The Importance of the International Positioning of the Markawasi Stone Forest as a Tourism Destination in Peru

Abstract

The Markawasi stone forest, located in the Peruvian Central Andes, is an imposing plateau that shows traces of a pre-Inca culture, where the weather modeled the giant rocks in anthropomorphic and zoomorphic shapes, creating a unique landscape. Its scientific, scenic, and cultural value, as well as its accessibility from the Peruvian capital (Lima), place it as a site of great tourism potential. This article is a reflective work that justifies the importance of the international positioning of such geological heritage as a tourism destination in the Andean country, both through bibliographic and documentary research as through direct observation. It was found that the international positioning of Markawasi would allow the consolidation of Lima as an important tourism destination in Peru, boosting a greater permanence of foreign tourists, fostering the multi-thematic tourism offer of the country, and promoting the conservation of Markawasi through the rational use of tourism activity, bringing benefits to the local population.