Sustainable development of a rural area in the face of pressure from large tour operators? The example of Peru’s Colca Canyon

In 1981, Polish canoeists (members of the Bystrze Academic Travel Club) made the fi rst journey along the waters of the River Colca in the section located in Arequipa Province (Peru), along which the waters fl ow in a deep canyon. Information on this sporting achievement – and a description of the Canyon and its surrounding area fi lled the Peruvian press and tourist publications around the world, ensuring that the Colca Canyon became one of the most important goals for tourists anywhere in Peru from that time on. However, mass infl uxes of tourists, noisy trips, the development of hotel infrastructure and other items required in tourism have generated permanent change in the character of the Colca Valley, and done much to infl uence the lives of its inhabitants.