“The Emergence of Ethical Trekking as a Profession in Peru”By Miguel Angel Gongora Meza, Founder of Evolution Treks Peru

Credit: Miguel Angel Gongora Meza, Founder of Evolution Treks Peru

Tourism has been a cornerstone of the Peruvian economy for many years, directly or indirectly supporting hundreds of thousands of people working in hotels, restaurants and transport. Yet, within tourism, trekking is evolving into a specialized sector in line with global discourses on ethics, sustainability and fair labor. Thousands of people hike the Inca Trail every year, and this supports a wide array of jobs, from porters and cooks to guides and logistics workers. What is changing now is the need for professionals who can not only take tourists safely but also respect the rights of workers and vulnerable ecosystems.
I started out as a porter almost 30 years ago transporting 25 kilograms for hours up stone stairs. Back then, mistreatment and underpayment was the norm. Porters usually slept without tents, ate what they could find, and earned less than $15 a day. This exploitation remains to this day along famous trails around the world from Kilimanjaro to Everest Base Camp. The difference is that trekkers are becoming more involved and asking companies about labor conditions. As a result, companies that value equity have hired guides, managers and staff who are knowledgeable about labor rights and sustainability, as well as cross-cultural awareness. These occupations are emerging as the new kind of profession that brings together the activities of guiding and the activities of advocating.

Artificial Intelligence and other technologies are now taking over these occupations. At Evolution Treks Peru, we have applied AI to thousands of reviews from our guests. For example, text analysis showed that 28 percent of clients cited porter welfare and 34 percent cited environmental practices. Those percentages meant more than data on a financial sheet could. They let us know where the industry was going and what the clients valued. This kind of analysis is spawning new jobs in tourism analytics, ones that are somewhat in between fieldwork and digital interpretation. A tour guide who previously offered only Inca history lessons might now spend part of his time working with information that drives company policy.

Climate awareness is also going to play a major role in the career of trekkers in the future. Warming is happening at the 4000m trails, glaciers are melting, and weather is more erratic. Companies are beginning to hire professionals to help adjust itineraries, calculate carbon footprints, and educate travelers. Some of these jobs may not have existed twenty years ago but now they are some of the most needed jobs in the industry. A trekking company that doesn’t educate staff on adaptation to climate change risks safety and reputation.

As predictable jobs are being destroyed by robots and algorithms, the trend is the opposite for trekking. It calls for human interaction, emotion and improvisation in uncertain environments. A vacationer doesn’t go thousands of miles to listen to a machine tell them about Machu Picchu. They come to share a coca leaf with a portero, to listen to a Quechua lullaby, to walk through history with someone whose ancestors are the very stones they are walking on. These experiences cannot be coded and the careers that live these experiences will still exist in an automated world.

Peru’s trekking industry is a tiny reflection of a massive global change. Ethical, sustainable and regenerative models are increasingly becoming not just ideals but necessities. Tomorrow’s tourism jobs will go to those who can be both a guide and an advocate, a storyteller and a data-nerd, and a guardian of the past and an architect of the future. It is not an easy one, but it is a meaningful one, and already is transforming the labor market in Cusco and elsewhere.

Meet Our Contributor — Miguel Angel Gongora Meza
Miguel Angel Gongora Meza is a native Peruvian and professional tour guide from Cusco who has been leading treks through Peru for almost 30 years. He is the co-founder of Evolution Treks Peru, a sustainable and ethical tourism company based in Peru. Miguel is a former porter on the Inca Trail & the only Peruvian to climb Kilimanjaro, Everest Base Camp, and the Inca Trail. He has been the subject of the award-winning film The Last Tourist and continues to be an ambassador for porter welfare and regenerative tourism practices around the world.