This proposal arose as a strategy proposed by the Mexican Association of Hotels in Yucatán (AMHY) so that the thousands of visitors who arrive to this area of monuments use on a larger scale the rooms available in the vicinity and thus promote the economy of the communities that live there. of the provision of tourist services.
«That we can have sunrises, that the archaeological zone, instead of opening at 08:00 in the morning, opens at 06:00 in the morning. This would allow people to spend the night in these places or in this area, and I’m talking about the Valladolid area, the Pisté area,” said Juan José Martín Pacheco, president of the AMHY.
Tour in a few hours
In a press conference, the businessman stated that, currently, tourists who go to Chichén Itzá leave from Cancún or Mérida, arrive at this place, take a tour and return to their destination in a few hours.
However, with the earlier opening, visitors will be able to arrive at their hotel in the afternoon, appreciate the video mapping show “Noches de Kukulcán”, and very early, enter the site to see the sunrise, providing a better experience for visitors. tourists.
He reported that this has been requested from the INAH representation in the state, although it was reported that the determination has to be made from the central office, although it was insisted that the request will be maintained.
Hotel occupancy of 40% in 2023
Likewise, he specified that hotel occupancy in Chichén Itzá did not reach 40% in 2023, despite increasing compared to 2022.
«In November, it went from 52 to 44%, minus 8%. December behaved differently, from 49 to 52%, plus 3%, and in the sum of the entire year, from 22 to 23, we see that from 32 to 36%, it gives us 4 percentage points more compared to the year past,” he explained.
Last year, 2.5 million people entered Chichén Itzá, although many of these, according to tourism businessmen, would not be spending the night in Yucatán because they only came to visit the archaeological site.
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