MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Machu Picchu the destination most world travelers want to see

Machu Picchu was the top pick of Hostelworld.com users, followed by the Full Moon Party in Thailand and South Africa's Kruger National Park

A travel Web site has selected the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in southeastern Peru as the destination that world travelers most want to see, Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Magali Silva said.

 Hostelworld.com asked users to vote on their top adventure travel destination in its “My Awesome Escape” contest, and the Inca site won by more than 1 million votes.

“This is the result of constant promotional work in the main tourism source countries for one of the most celebrated destinations in our country, and of the special conservation work done by local officials at the Incan sanctuary, which welcomed 1,177,308 tourists in 2013,” Silva said.

Machu Picchu was the top pick of Hostelworld.com users, followed by the Full Moon Party in Thailand and a visit to South Africa's Kruger National Park, Silva said.

“For a Peruvian destination to be the most desired in the world among a considerable number of voters ... shows that our country is on the minds of the end consumer,” the foreign trade and tourism minister said.

The discovery of another stretch of the Inca Road in Machu Picchu opens the way for new offerings for tourists, giving visitors a different perspective on the citadel, Silva said.

“It is evidence of the greatness of our ancestors and why Peru has become one of the most important archeological destinations in the world”.

The new stretch of the Inca Road has approximately a kilometer and a half and between 1.20 and 1.40 meters wide, according to the Culture Directory from the city of Cuzco. It leads from the zone of Wayraqtambo, behind Machu Picchu, to a platform from where you can see the llaqta (Inca village) of the sanctuary from a completely different angle.