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Machu Picchu awarded leading green destination in South America

The Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru has been awarded South America’s Leading Green Destination by the World Travel Awards. The prestigious recognition was granted last weekend in London, during the World Travel Market’s Gran Gala Ceremony.

Machu Picchu in PeruHailed by the Wall Street Journal as the “Travel Industry’s equivalent to the Oscars”, the World Travel Awards are the most comprehensive and prestigious awards program of today’s global travel industry, and involves a voting campaign of about 185,000 travel professionals worldwide.

Ecotourism is gaining popularity worldwide, as travellers are eager to discover new locations that have for long been uninhabited and protected from human intervention. “Australians in particular love eco travel. Machu Picchu is already one of the top selling South American destinations in Australia, and we hope that this award will increase its popularity among eco travellers”, said Rafael Noriega from Peru’s National Board Promperu.

Machu Picchu was chosen over eight nominees, which included Argentina’s Patagonia, Guyana’s Georgetown, Venezuela’s Caracas, and Brazil’s Abrolhos. The ancient citadel, one of the Seven Wonders of the World and a Unesco World Heritage Site, is considered to be one of the most extraordinary examples of scenic architecture in the world.

It was built at the top of a granite mountain, using ingenious engineering techniques. The Incas transported heavy stone blocks up the mountain side, and once there used their excellent masonry skills to produce amazingly polished stones that fit together perfectly.

In July 2011, Peru will celebrate the Centenary of the Machu Picchu Encounter with the Western World. In 1911, Yale archaeologists Hiram Bingham located the city of the Incas, and uncovered the famous buried structures hidden by four centuries of disuse.

Source: e-Travel Blackboard [November 09, 2010]