The Peruvian government has announced a plan to cut air fares to Peru in an attempt to bolster tourism to coincide with the reopening of Machu Picchu. Peruvian tourism Minister Martin Perez said the promotion, which has seen airfares and hotel rates cut for domestic travellers, will shortly be extended internationally. Peruvian officials have said that Machu Picchu, the historic capital of the Inca Empire and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, will soon reopen after torrential downpours caused a series of landslides to wash away parts of the railway that connect the site to nearby Cuzco.

Officials estimated that closing the historic Inca settlement could cost the Peruvian tourism industry as much as $400 million and as many as 15,000 jobs.

Plans to rebuild the railway are already well under way with an estimated finish time as soon as April, with an alternative road possibly set to open within three weeks.

Resting 7,000 feet above sea level on a narrow ridge between the Andean Mountain Range, Machu Picchu, meaning ‘old peak,’ was luckily unaffected by the heavy downpours and mudslides that hit the region.

Minister Martin Perez has confirmed that the city of Cuzco will continue to welcome tourists to the region and that rain experienced in the city was light to moderate, with all archaeological and cultural attractions remaining open to the public.

The discounted flights to Peru scheme offers as much as 50% savings on flights and hotels and helped to bring more than 8,000 tourists to Cuzco last weekend.

Perez also announced that rural tourism now benefits over 2,800 Peruvian families around the country and tourism organisation PromPeru is working closely with partners on the development of diverse community activities in all regions of Peru in aid of smaller communities and the whole country.