Choquequirao, known as the "cradle of gold" was once a destination of Incan royalty, and may soon become a tourist destination, according to NBC. The national government of Peru has approved the country's first aerial tramway, which will bridge the canyon of the Apurimac River, making the destination reachable in only 15 minutes.
Currently, only only a few tourists visit the area each day because it requires a two-day hike to reach. Once the new bridge is constructed, a three-mile long cable car will bring people in groups of 400 to visit the site, carrying them over the river.
The project is expected to cost $45 million and bring about 3,000 tourists a day after it opens. It's currently projected to be active in late 2015.
"This is going to generate tourist services," Elias Segovia, the president of the Apurimac State government, said. "It will generate great investment" in hotels, restaurants and other amenities.
The new project aims to shift some tourist attention away from Machu Picchu, which has a limit of 2,500 visitors a day.
"When we went there it was the two of us and the two rangers," Jeff Widman, a 27-year-old Internet entrepreneur from Menlo Park, California, who traveled to Choquequirao with his wife, said. The couple then continued on to Machu Picchu.
It is believed that Choquequirao was the last refuge of the Incan rulers fleeing Cuzco after the Spanish conquistadors defeated the leader. Today it's covered in vegetation, with only about 30 percent of it cleared for tourism.
David Ugarte, the regional director of culture in Cuzco, predicts that the tramway will open up other archaeological sites to broader tourism, something not everyone is pleased about.
"Cuzco's very character is in the preservation of its historical center and archaeological sites," Arturo Almiron, a travel agent, said. "If we build a tramway, that preservation is altered."
"As long as the government manages [the tramway] properly, I think it can bring some good into the area," Mandy Kalitsis, an operations manager for a tour company, said.
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