The Mexican government estimates that this year more than 52 million people will visit Maya country in the southern states of Tabasco, Quintana Roo, Yucatan and Chiapas, according to Mark Johanson writing in the International Business Times’ IB Traveler.
The Mexican tourism office issued a report in December saying they expect the tourists to drop about $19.5 million (270 million pesos) while visiting. Somehow that doesn’t seem like a very promising estimate. I mean, if 52 million visitors each spent a dollar, that would be $52 million and you’re not going to stay in some of the resort hotels in the Yucatan for less than $1 a night. Actually, while I double checked, I couldn’t find another number, but I believe it should be more like $19.5 BILLION. That would be around $365 per person, which makes a lot more sense.
"The Maya cosmology has sparked the interest of tourists and students of the matter worldwide, something that will be an important element of tourist promotion," the Mexican tourism office told Johanson.
In many areas in the four Mexican states that expect to be impacted by the influx of tourists, the flood of money will be welcome. Additionally, the interest in Maya culture, history and artifacts may help spawn increased tourism long beyond December 21, 2012.
A lot of people are flocking to Mexico this year. That’s good for Mexico, but is it good for tourists?
According to the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC), there were 18,601 narco-related murders in Mexico in 2011. 18,601! That’s astonishing. It translates to 51 murders a day, a marked increase from the 37 a day rate in 2010.
One hopes that Mexico is paying as much attention to the potential dangers facing tourists as they are to the potential windfall of tourist pesos.
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