Inca Trail Trekking Regulations 2005
In the year 2001 the Peruvian Government proposed many changes to the administration
of the Inca Trail in a bid to protect its fragile eco-structure from over-use. Most of
these proposals have been aimed at reducing the number of trekkers on the trail,
improving the quality of the tour operators and offering a reservation system whereby
trekkers will be forced to make there reservations many weeks (even months) in
advance. Some of the proposals were introduced slowly throughout 2001 and 2002 but
the Government started to enforce the majority of the regulations strictly in 2003.
Further regulations have been introduced at the beginning of 2004 with the main aim of
eliminating poor quality operators. All trekking companies that operate the Inca Trail
must have an operating license which is issued every year at the end of February.
Summary:
In order to guarantee a trek permit for the Inca Trail you need to make a reservation
and pay for your entrance fee well in advance. In the low season (Oct-Mar) we
recommend making a reservation at least 5 weeks in advance. For the months of May and
September we recommend making a reservation 6 weeks in advance and for the peak
months of June, July and August we recommend a minimum of 9-10 weeks days in
advance. If you haven't paid a trek deposit in advance it means that the tour operator
hasn't bought your trek permits so you do not have a guaranteed reservation no matter
what your tour operator tells you. Once your tour operator has confirmed your
reservation then it can be very difficult to change the date of trek departure and
prohibited to transfer the reservation to another person.
Any remaining spaces on the trek are offered on a first-come-first-served basis. If you
turn up in Cusco 5-7 days prior to trek departure then you may still find space available
with some agencies. However, during May 2004 there were many people who were
disappointed not to find spaces available even arriving in Cusco 2 weeks in advance. We
predict things to be even more difficult during June, July and August as more people
make reservations in advance by internet.
A detailed account of the Inca Trail regulations can be found below:
1. Increase in entrance fee: Since January 2001 entrance fees for the Inca Trail
were increased to US$60 for adults. Students under 26 years old with a valid
International Student Identity Card (ISIC) receive a US$30 discount but you must
inform the tour operator at the time of making your reservation and bring the card with
you on the Inca Trail. No other forms of student identity are acceptable i.e. letters
from college, international youth identity cards etc. Teenagers under the age of 15
years old also receive a US$25 discount. If you are claiming the student discount then
you must submit the original card to the trekking company at least 2 days prior to
starting the trek. If you claim to be a student with an ISIC card when you make the
trek reservation the trekking company will purchase a student trek permit for you. If
when you arrive in Cusco you do not have a valid ISIC card your US$30 entrance ticket
will be invalid and you will have to pay an additional US$60 for a standard entrance
ticket (note that you will not be asked to just make up the difference in price, so be
warned)
2. Restricted numbers of trekkers: Over the last five years Peru has become a more
popular travel destination. There are many great treks throughout Peru but the Inca
Trail is the most well known. During the peak season of 2000 many campsites became
crowded and the trail became littered with rubbish. In early 2001 the Government
proposed to reduce the number of people on the trail to 500 per day. This figure roughly
comprises 200 tourists and 300 trekking staff (guides, cooks and porters). However this
restriction wasn't enforced until June 2002 (if only very loosely). In 2003 the
authorities started to strictly enforced these numbers and many of the better tour
operators were fully booked well in advance. The figure of 200 tourists includes
trekkers on both the 2-day and 4-day treks as well as the Salkantay 7-day trek. As an
estimate we would say that a maximum number of 160 trekkers per day will be allowed on
the 4-day trek, 25 on the 2 day trek and 15 on the Salkantay Trek. On 10 March 2004,
130 tour operators in Cusco were issued with licenses to operate the Inca Trail. It
doesn't take much to realise that there will be some problems ahead !!
3. Booking requirements. Booking requirements for the Inca Trail have become very
stringent due to the fact that there are too many trekkers and too few spaces
especially during the months June, July, August and September. The UGM (Unidad de
Gestion Machu Picchu - the regulatory body responsible for controlling access to Machu
Picchu and the Inca Trail) has done its best to implement a reservation system that is
both fair to tourists as well as to the various trekking companies all competing for
spaces. Basically spaces are issued on a first-come-first-served basis.
Making an Inca Trail trek booking:
(1) Try to make a trek reservation as far ahead as possible. Reservations can be made as
far in advance as 365 days! This allows overseas tour groups selling tour packages to
reserve spaces for their groups well in advance. For couples and small groups we
recommend that you try to make your Inca Trail booking between five and eight weeks in
advance. You will need to send your name, nationality, age, passport number and whether
you are a student to the tour operator at the time of booking. The tour operator will ask
you to pay a trek deposit.
(2) If you have booked a private trek then the tour operator will submit your
reservation details to the UGM and pay 50% of your entrance fee to guarantee a space.
The remaining 50% has to be paid 15 days prior to trek departure. Once your trek
permits have been purchased you cannot change the details (name, passport number,
departure date or add additional group members or extra porters to the group).
If you have booked a group/pool service trek, the tour operator faces a considerable
dilema. As described above, he has to submit the names and passport numbers of all the
group to the UGM and pay 50% of all the entrance fees. The earlier he submits the list
of names the better are their chances of being allocated spaces. However once he has
submitted the list he cannot add any additional names to it. So the longer the tour
operator waits to achieve a larger, more economical group size, the chances of being
allocated spaces on the Inca Trail reduces. Many tour operators who have waited too
long to "close" their groups have been caught out in 2005 and when they went to
purchase the trek permits there were no spaces left!
(3) Reservations made between 30 and 5 days in advance are considered late bookings
and will be issued on a first come first served basis.
(4) The implications of this booking system for tour operators and tourists are just
beginning to be seen. A tour operator, that in the past has managed to find 16 persons
to make up group may now be lucky to find 6 or 7 persons 30 days in advance. If the
tour operator waits longer he risks the chance that there won't be space available. His
options are to combine with other companies in the same situation (more likely) or to
depart with a small group and probably lose money. In the year 2005 we are likely to see
many companies forge alliances and combine their groups together well in advance. Very
few tour operators will be left actually operating the trek and next year we will probably
see companies dramatically raise their prices (again!) and depart with much smaller
groups. Anyone just turning up in Cusco hoping to make a last minute reservation is likely
to be disappointed particularly during the busy month of May to September.
4. Independent Trekkers: Since June 2001 trekking independently on the Inca Trail
has been prohibited. Regulations state that each trekker must be accompanied on the
Inca Trail by a professionally qualified guide. Trying to organize a guide in advance is
difficult since tour agencies just aren't interested in hiring out their guides. If you wait
until you arrive in Cusco to arrange a guide then you are liable to be left with only the
worst guides and the possibility that all the spaces on the trail are fully booked. If you
want to get away from it all and trek on your own then there are some excellent
alternative treks such as Lares Valley, Choquequirao or Ausangate. If you do manage to
organize a guide for the Inca Trail in advance you cannot have a group greater than 7
persons and you can't employ the services of other trekking staff such as cooks or
porters.
5. Maximum Group Size: The maximum allowable group size is 16 persons. For groups
larger than 8 persons there must be 2 guides. (on the shorter 2 day trek there must be
2 guides for groups larger than 07 persons)
6. Porters Working Conditions In April 2002 a new law was introduced to set minimum
wages for all porters on the Inca Trail. This has followed years of exploitation. This
wage is about US$10 per day. It may not seem a lot but wages are all relative to livings
costs. To put things in perspective teachers earn between US$150 and US$200 per
month. Even though the law exists many of the tour operators are still not respecting it.
In 2002 the maximum weight that a porter can carry was limited to 25kg (20kg load +
5kg personal items). Many porters have their weight checked by government officials at
the start of the trail. Tour Operators receive a fairly heavy fine if they overload their
porters and if they persist they can have there license removed temporarily or even
permanently. These two regulations have dramatically improved the porters working
conditions. However some of the cheaper companies do not provide their porters with
adequate meals or sleeping accommodation. When deciding on a tour company ask them
what their policy is towards looking after their porters.
6. Inca Trail Closure during the month of February: The Inca Trail will be closed
each year during the month of February to allow conservation projects to be undertaken
as well as giving the vegetation a chance to recover. This is a good month to close the
trail since it is also the wettest moth of the year. Machu Picchu and the shorter 2-day
trail will remain open as usual.
7. Licensed trek operators: The UGM (Unidad de Gestion Machu Picchu) is the
regulatory body responsible for controlling access to Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail.
In order to operate the Inca Trail companies must meet certain basic requirements
proving that they have professional guides and good camping equipment, radio
communications and emergency first aid including oxygen. The license to operate the
Inca Trail is renewed each year in early March. Due to legal problems the Government
has found it hard to withdraw licenses from poor performing companies and every tour
operator that has satisfied the basic requirements has been given a license. Legislation
is likely to be introduced during this year to give more power to the Ministry of Tourism
and allow them to fine, suspend or close badly performing companies.
Additional useful Information
When you arrive in Peru:
(1) Never buy tours or treks from salespersons at airports or from taxi drivers.
(2) Never buy tours or treks from salespersons at airports or from taxi drivers. (We
can't emphasize this point enough)
(3) Never reveal your name and personal details to anyone unless it is really necessary.
Don't give away information about your tour itinerary to anyone that doesn't need to
know. When you book your flights or when you arrive at your hotel in Lima people may
ask you which trekking company you have booked with. When you arrive in Cusco you may
be surprised to find someone waiting for you at the airport with a sign with your name on
it. This person may claim to be from the trekking company and kindly offer to take you
to your hotel where they will ask you to pay the trek balance! Yes you've guessed it,
someone from Lima phoned them through your details and flight times, and the person
who met you at the airport wasn't working for the trekking company at all! whoops!
Where did that money go so quickly? Always pay the balance of the trek in the office of
the trekking company.
(4) Always pay for your trek in the office of the tour operator (I've said it again) and
obtain a written receipt. Ensure that the name of the office is actually written outside
of the office and that the receipt has the same name as the company. Never pay money
to people who pick you up at the airport.
(5) Try to avoid "too good to be true" offers. A cheap tour price usually means a cheap
service. An unbelievably cheap price usually means no service at all!
Problems with service? If you have paid for a trek and the service promised doesn't
materialize then you can take your complaint to a government tourist protection body
called INDECOPI. Just mentioning their name is usually enough to frighten a company
into taking your complaint seriously. However your complaint should first be brought to
the attention of the guide during the trek so it gives him/her opportunity to sort the
problem out. If things don't improve then ask to see the manager in the office when you
return. It helps if you have a receipt with the name and address of the office and a list
of what was included in the trek. It also helps if you bought the trek with a company in
Cusco and not in Lima or some other part of Peru. INDECOPI have an office in the main
plaza in Cusco. Don't go to them unless the complaint is serious and you have given the
company the opportunity to sort it out first.
Information updated: 21 May 2005

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