The Living Inca Town: Tourist Encounters in the Peruvian Andes

Tourism is one of the largest industries in the world, but its benefits, including economic gain, are not felt by the majority of the country's inhabitants.

The Living Inca Town provides a rich case study of tourism in Ollantaytambo, a rapidly developing destination in the Southern Peruvian Andes and the starting place for many popular treks to Machu Picchu.

Tourism is generally welcomed in Ollantaytambo as it provides a steady stream of work for local businesses, particularly those run by women.

However, the unignorable material disparity between locals and tourists has come to sour interactions, and has contributed to conflict and aggression throughout the tourist zones.

Based on four years of field research, The Living Inca Town examines the experiences and interactions of locals, visitors, and tourism brokers.

This book makes room for unique perspectives, and uses innovative visual methods, including photovoice images and pen-and-ink drawings to illustrate different viewpoints on day-today tourist encounters.

The Living Inca Town vividly illustrates the ways in which tourism can perpetuate gendered and global inequalities, while also exploring new avenues to challenge and renegotiate these roles.