CAMBIO DE HORARIO, ASUNTO FEDERAL
Cambio de horario en el ámbito federal.
Dependerá del Gobierno Federal y de la sociedad el cambio de huso horario para adaptarlo a la hora del Este de Estados unidos, dijo el secretario de Turismo, Juan Carlos González Hernández.
La propuesta del sector empresarial se ha estado impulsando ante la Secretaría de Turismo Federal, y se suma también el Estado de Yucatán, pero dependerá del Gobierno Federal y de la propia ciudadanía.
Sería positivo y definitivamente estarían empatando con horarios de aerolíneas que son positivas para el turismo y hay que analizarlo bien, “pero que sea una decisión consensada y evitar que haya rechazo, para ello son estos estudios que demuestren que se requiere”, dijo. Y si además contribuye a un ahorro en energía eléctrica, pues es lo mejor. Estimó que será “difícil tener la aceptación general, pero si es de una mayoría se tomará de nuevo en cuenta”.
Por la cantidad de vuelos, 60 por ciento del turismo que llega a Quintana Roo viene del Este de Estados Unidos y sería positivo tener el mismo horario. “Insisto, del sector social, y que vive del turismo, aunque no directamente, dependerá la aprobación. El sector empresarial es la más interesada pero se requiere consultarlo y no generar controversia. Los habitantes del Estado son los que decidimos, agregó, aunado a ello, el Gobernador está esperando tener mas claro estudios de viabilidad acerca del cambio de horario. “Podemos estar convencido nosotros, pero si el Gobierno Federal no está convencido no hay posibilidades, pero hay un gran interés”, aclaró. En la Conago también se puede hacer participar a los demás Gobernadores. Pero definitivamente de Quintana Roo es de donde parte del interés por este cambio, abundó.
Millennium-Old Mayan Game Board Found
Mexicans Find Millennium-Old Mayan Game Board.
MEXICO CITY –Archaeologists carrying out restoration at the Dzibilnocac site in the southeastern state of Campeche discovered a Mayan game board dating from more than 1,000 years ago, Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History said.
A member of the team that found the artifact, Heber Ojeda, estimates the board was used between the 7th and 10th centuries during the Late Classic period of Dzibilnocac. “It is an esgraffito scoreboard of approximately 50 centimeters (19.68 inches) on each side, which was discovered on the floor of the second highest space” in the building denoted A1, the archaeologist said.
Etched into the surface of the board are 58 rectangles of varying sizes and players would have used beans as game tokens, Ojeda said.
One of his colleagues, Judith Gallegos Gomora, said the board was designed for patolli, a game of chance described in Mayan codices and colonial Spanish chronicles. She added, however, that the board bears a resemblance to the Maya quincunx, a schematic representation of the universe, and would likely also have been used for divination.
TODO LISTO PARA EL CARNAVAL DE TULUM
TODO LISTO PARA EL CARNAVAL DE TULUM.
El Ayuntamiento de Tulum, en coordinación con patrocinadores, harán posible la realización del Carnaval Tulum 2012 en el que involucrarán en los festejos a los tulumnenses y visitantes que en esas fechas estarán vacacionando en el noveno municipio.
Actualmente están registradas 15 comparsas y nueve carros alegóricos, los cuales desfilarán en las principales arterias de la cabecera municipal para externar la invitación a sumarse a los festejos carnavalescos. Posteriormente, el parque del Museo de Cultura Maya será escenario de las presentaciones de la Reina y Rey Feo, las comparsas y los espectáculos.Cada noche se contará con una cartelera musical.
El día 24 de febrero se contará con un show prehispánico y la presentación de la reina y Rey Feo, el 25 será el concurso de comparsas, el domingo 26 se efectuarán concursos y rifas, y el 27 se presentará el ballet del Ayuntamiento de Mérida con más de 30 bailarines en escena, además de la presentación de los cómicos regionales Nany Namu y Mami Blue. El martes 28 se llevará a cabo la lectura del testamento y quema de Juan Carnaval y cerrará con broche de oro un artista de talla internacional aún por confirmar.
Por su parte, la presidenta municipal mencionó al respecto que “la consolidación de una cultura carnavalesca será uno de los principales objetivos de la realización del Carnaval Tulum 2012, motivando a que en los próximos años participe un número mayor de personas, con la finalidad de mantenerlo como un atractivo cultural que permita atraer a visitantes que gusten de disfrutar el festejo, la algarabía y la expresión de júbilo que caracteriza a un destino.
Foreign Investment in Mexico Rose 9.7% in 2011
Foreign Investment in Mexico Rose 9.7% in 2011.
–Mexico received $19.44 billion in foreign direct investment last year, an increase of 9.7 percent over 2010, the economy ministry said Monday.
The United States accounted for 55 percent of the figure and Spain contributed 15 percent, with the remainder coming from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada and other countries. Last year’s result brought Mexico’s total FDI for the 2007-2011 period to $113.8 billion, the ministry said.
Just over 44 percent of last year’s FDI went into manufacturing, while finance and insurance took 18 percent, 9.5 percent was channeled into the retail sector and 5.7 percent flowed to mass media. More than 41 percent of 2011 FDI was in the form of “new investments” and 39.3 percent consisted of re-invested profits, the economy ministry said.
Mexico took in nearly 49 percent more FDI in the fourth quarter of 2011 than in the same period of the previous year. Gross domestic product grew 3.9 percent last year, Mexico’s state-run National Institute of Statistics and Geography said last Thursday.
Mexico, Latin America’s second-biggest economy, saw its GDP expand by 5.5 percent in 2010 over the previous year, when the country was just beginning to emerge from its worst slump since the 1930s.
The real Mexican experience
The real Mexican experience
Source: The Sault Star
By PAULINE CLARK
“Heard from Courtenie lately,” Gerry asked.
“Not yet,” I responded. “I’ll be glad when I hear she’s safely back in Mexico.”
You might think that a bit strange. Safely back in Mexico? You bet. Having been there ourselves, we’re pretty comfortable with Courtenie’s environment.
Courtenie, our daughter, is a photographer. She’s supposed to be returning from a trip to Guatemala where she’s been travelling alone for the past 12 days. She’s actually been living and working in Mexico for more than two years, first in Puerto Vallarta, then Guanajuato. Mexico City and now Playa del Carmen.
In fact, we recently travelled to visit her in Playa to get what our daughter calls “the real Mexican experience.”
Not wanting to do the luxury resort vacations, my husband and I both agreed we much preferred this impromptu travel where we would wander to nearby towns, see a few tourist attractions, experience Mexican neighbourhoods and find a few places to stay along the way.
“Aren’t you scared?” people asked us before we left.
Not at all. Courtenie has been in Mexico for a while. Not only does she know her way around, she’s also able to speak Spanish. We would even have our own guide and our own interpreter.
Our first little test to our confidence came about the instant we arrived at the airport in Cancun. We quickly cleared customs after disembarking from our late night flight but our cause for concern came when we stepped outside. Where was Courtenie? She was supposed to be there to meet us. Actually,we didn’t feel really concerned until a taxi driver told us the last bus to Playa del Carmen left at 8 pm. It was now 10 pm.
“Don’t waste money on the shuttle,” Courtenie had said. “There’s a bus that only costs $3.” The shuttle I found in an online search would have been much more expensive so we decided to go along with our frugal-minded daughter’s plan.
In true Mexico fashion, there were plenty of people outside the airport more than eager to assist us with taxi service. The trouble was we didn’t know where we were going.
While my husband chatted with a young taxi driver, I bit the bullet and turned my cellphone on. I knew it could be expensive but I sent a short text message using the Live Profile app and our daughter immediately answered that she’d be right there.
A minute later she appeared followed by a female taxi driver, who immediately got into an indecipherable debate with the fellow to whom my husband had been talking.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“They’re just discussing who is going to drive you. He thinks he got you first,” our daughter explained. “Now they want me to choose.”
She pointed to the female and the young male shrugged, shook his head, and then proceeded to assist with taking our luggage to the taxi.
“The men here would never just let the girl load the luggage even if they’re mad at her,” Courtenie explained. She had told me on another occasion that she liked how the men let women go first and would always give up their seats on a bus. I had to agree it’s something we see less and less of at home.
Less than an hour later, Gerry and I looked at each other as the taxi bounced and bumped through an extremely rough street to our daughter’s apartment, our home base for the next week.
We were eager to venture from that base the next day so we walked down Avenue Juarez, then over to the street where we caught the colectivo to travel to the small town of Tulum. These shuttle vans are quite reasonable, costing $30 pesos per person, the equivalent of less than Cdn$2.50. Not bad for a 45-minute ride. There are literally hundreds of these vans travelling in all directions. Ours stopped to pick up passengers, mostly people heading to and from work in the many resorts along Highway 307.
Though Tulum is not nearly as touristy as Playa, there are many tourists. Many of the residents are expatriates from Canada and other countries. Some are what our daughter calls “hippies,” who were selling their wares in the town plaza during the evening.
Tulum is one of our new favourite places. It had a great atmosphere, was not at all “Americanized” and we found some small hotels that were not only reasonable and very clean, but were unique. Of course, before we found these ones we had checked out a couple of rather rough looking hotels before finally moving our search to an internet café.
While Courtenie and I searched the computers, Gerry wandered around talking to strangers. It’s something he does so much that our daughters back in Canada ask where the photos of him talking to strangers are. The thing I have to admit is, he garners a lot of good information this way.
That’s how we found Don Diego de la Selva. An Australian couple directed us to the edge of town within walking distance where, set a short ways down a dirt road, we found what we’ve come to fondly call “the jungle hotel.” To reach our room, we had to walk through a palapa where we’d have a simple French breakfast in the morning. Don Diego’s was like a hidden paradise offering a quiet serenity at least until the rooster started crowing at 4 a.m. We decided, however, that in Mexico, a rooster crowing at 4 a.m. is a good sound.
After settling into our room, we strolled back downtown and discovered the town plaza. Most towns in Mexico have a plaza where everyone gathers. We watched a clown perform for the children, other children were painting at tiny easels and we followed a parade of people as they sang and made their way to the nearby church.
We stopped at the Paleteria y Neveria (ice-cream parlour) for the Mexican version of ice-cream. Though we passed on flavours such as coffee and lime, we tried coconut and guanabana. No one seemed to notice or care that we were the only tourists there.
The next morning we left our jungle paradise to continue our travels. As we walked through the town, we were slightly unnerved at the hundreds of police officers lining both sides of the street. Finally someone told us that a dignitary was going to be coming through.
Our taxi driver told us the Mexican government believes a strong police presence makes tourists feel safer but he noted that tourists feel more alarmed with so many police everywhere. Perhaps if they weren’t all carrying such big guns, they wouldn’t be so unnerving, I thought.
Our taxi took us a few miles out of town to the famous Tulum Ruins. These are the only Mayan ruins that actually overlook the Caribbean. We spent the few extra pesos it costs to hire a guide and it was money well spent. Ernie (Hernan in Spanish) our guide, was a native Mayan and told us a bit about the Mayan culture. He also explained how some of the hieroglyphics depicted tales of human sacrifice that once took place in this ancient culture. It was also interesting to learn that the wind tower on the site was built in such a way that a shrill whistling noise would and, still can, be heard for miles as a warning when hurricane-force winds arise.
“Without a guide, this place would be just a pile of rocks to you,” Hernan said. We had to agree that we had much respect for this ancient culture after our tour.
Interestingly, Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum is currently running an exhibition on the Secrets of the Mayans.
And finally after two days in Mexico, we put our feet into the Caribbean Sea, first on the beautiful beaches of Tulum and the next afternoon back in Playa del Carmen.
Though we bow away from the heavy commercial aspects of travel, we highly recommend Playa’s Quinta Avenida (5th Avenue). This is where you’ll find a street crowded with tourists along with blocks and blocks of hotels and hostels, restaurants, shops and nightclubs and street vendors and performers to suit every taste.
The streets of Playa are fairly easy to navigate, being set up on a grid system. Avenues run parallel to the beach starting with 5th and going up in increments of five. Streets or calles run perpendicular to the coast and increase by twos.
5th Avenue has some amazing hotel deals. We found a room with a balcony directly above the street for just $40 and that was for three of us. The hotel had a strange and unique lobby and pool area which we knew our free spirited daughter would appreciate. “I want an apartment here,” she told us later.
Courtenie took advantage of the ocean being only a block away and rose before dawn to photograph the sunrise. Later, as she crawled back into bed for another hour’s sleep, we slipped out the door to find an “Americano coffee” on the beach.
Since Courtenie had to work during part of our visit, I agreed with Gerry’s plan to “make some money” going on a hotel time share visit. He’s been fascinated with how that system works—not the actual time share but the whole gimmick of getting people to go. At every corner there are people trying to get tourists to go on these time shares. Usually there’s an offer for a free breakfast or free T-shirts, but if you talk to the same people long enough, you just might get a better deal. Ask Gerry. We did have a good breakfast and walked away with a good sum of cash, but it took four hours out of our day.
One day we decided we would go to the island of Cozumel. As we waited for the ferry boat and talked to employees at the local tour companies, we learned that the island would be busy with three cruise ships docking that day. As we stood in the pouring rain debating our next move (Yes, it rains a bit in paradise.), we decided against Cozumel and began to think about visiting Gran Cenote, near Tulum.
The problem was how to get there, but after a little investigating, we opted to hire a taxi to drive us. The cost was only US$60, much cheaper than the $90 to rent a car. The taxi driver was happy to sit in the shade by his van waiting for us both at the cenote, and later while we lunched in the beach community of Akumal. It was a much better day for him than hustling for fares of 50 pesos per trip around Playa. One driver told us they sometimes only make three or four trips a day or less in low season.
Courtenie had described snorkeling as feeling like you’re in the middle of Little Mermaid and I might have to agree. We’ll have to do more of it another time. Cenotes are fresh- or salt-water pools that formed over centuries when rainfall was absorbed into the limestone and collapsed the caves, creating the pools of water open to the sky. These pools are considered sacred by the Mayans.
The final leg of our trip started off with a late-night arrival in Cancun where we felt actual trepidation for the first time. Lodging in the highly commercialized hotel zone cost much more than we wanted to pay, but we finally found a more reasonable hotel. It was a five-minute walk to the restaurants so, being already well into the evening, we decided to take it.
Between the duct-taped shower head, the gaping hole where a shower drain should have been, the gritty feel of the fine Cancun sand on the floor and the rusted antique air conditioner, we weren’t entirely sure this was a good place.
In fact, there was an instant in that hotel when I felt like I was in a horror movie. That was as Courtenie ran downstairs to catch the taxi where she thought she’d left her cellphone, changed her mind and ran back up to where I stood in the hallway wondering where we were. The wind from the ocean howled around us. Sand was covering everything and we’d wondered just where Gerry had gotten to since he hadn’t returned from registering.
But for all that, it was the most spectacular view we’d had in a room that week.
In the morning, I asked Gerry if we were on an episode of Candid Camera as we walked along the beautiful ocean and looked up at the front of our building. Some rooms were boarded up with plywood. Others had no glass or windows. Ceiling fans could be seen drooping in bad disrepair from the salty, sandy sea air. One room even had the cement frame of the window smashed and broken.
That was also the one time we didn’t have our camera in our hands.
When we departed the hotel we were craving a strong coffee and went to Starbucks before figuring out how to get to the small ferry that would take us to Isla Mujeres. We were directed to the dock where an old boat transported workers and a few adventurous (translate: cheap) tourists to the small island. Gerry said the boat reminded him of the old boats that once transported people to Mackinac Island some 40 years ago.
Courtenie kept her eyes closed during the boat ride, saying she didn’t like the motion. My husband had moved two seats ahead and also sat with eyes shut the whole journey. A young girl next to us looked a little green and an older couple, tourists also, rolled their eyes with a grin as the boat flew across the water. I wondered just where we were going and if we were truly crazy.
But about eight miles across the Caribbean waters, we arrived at Isla Mujeres. We knew the minute we walked off that boat that this was possibly the highlight of our week.
You could walk around the whole island if you wanted, but you could also take a taxi or rent golf carts or mopeds. The island is only five miles long and a half mile wide.
We chose to walk around the north end where we had docked and where the downtown was compacted into a few blocks. We were amazed at the many shops, cafes, bookstores and buildings. We even checked out a couple of small hotels and decided next trip we’d have to stay for a night or two.
We took pictures around the remains of buildings destroyed in a hurricane 20 years ago. The water pounded loudly against the rocks and the wind whipped through our hair, and yet Isla Mujeres was quaint and peaceful. We stopped in tiny beachside bars for drinks, bartered for a Mayan calendar and some bottles of vanilla.
We also tried regional specialties like marquesitas, which are nutella, caramel, cheese and sliced bananas spread onto crepes and rolled up before they harden.
As we waited on the dock for the commercial ferry to take us back to Cancun, we watched the most magnificent sunset. Happy and relaxed from our day on Isla, we boarded the large commercial ferry for less than we’d paid to come over.
Back in Playa, we headed back down to 5th Avenue. Courtenie and I smiled as Gerry stopped to talk to the various vendors and time share sales staff we’d come to recognize. “Mr. Toronto,” they called him as they recognized his Toronto Maple Leaf T-shirt. We stopped for dinner in an upper-level restaurant where mariachis entertained us at our table.
We watched and wondered about the tourists walking on the street below. We talked about the rough ferry ride to Isla and the guy whose photo we sneaked while he smashed open a coconut and poured the milk into a cup on the beach. We laughed at Courtenie’s story about the middle-aged American sisters she’d met in a local bar one night and we watched them, seated at a table directly below us, flirting with their lone gentleman companion. We knew we would remember and laugh about these little incidents in the future.
Back at Courtenie’s, we finished closing up our luggage and fell into bed, talking into the night. A few hours later, our taxi driver, the same one we’d hired a few days earlier, blew his horn ready to return us to the Cancun airport.
As we travelled home, we reflected that we’d never felt as safe on a vacation as we do in Mexico.
The Mexico we hear of on the news is not the one we’ve seen; but in a country of 113 million, we’ve definitely not seen everything. Mexico City alone has a population of 22 million—that’s almost four cities the size of Toronto.
According to the Mexican Tourism Board, approximately 1.6 million Canadians visited Mexico in 2010 — almost twice as many as five years earlier. The number of Americans visiting each year is in excess of 17 million.
As I finished typing this, I pulled up Courtenie’s Facebook page one more time.
“Thirty-three hours of travelling and waiting for buses are over … Back in Playa,” her status read. I breathed a sigh of relief. She was back in Mexico. Safe. Again.
National Geographic special about the collapse of the Mayan civilization that will air on PBS in March
National Geographic special about the collapse of the Mayan civilization that will air on PBS in March
A Hattiesburg native has produced and directed a National Geographic special about the collapse of the Mayan civilization that will air on PBS in March.
Jeremy Zipple, 34, spent six weeks at Kaxil Kiuic Biocultural Reserve in Yucatan, Mexico last summer filming “Quest for the Lost Maya.” “It’s a story about the beginnings of the Maya and the demise of the Maya,” he said. “I think people are going to find out a ton they don’t know.”
Zipple made his first documentary while a student at Hattiesburg High School. He said the documentary is about how the Mayan people lived their lives, how their city developed over time and what may have caused them to eventually leave their city. “It explores some new research on the Maya in the Yucatan Peninsula,” he said.
Zipple said the ruins are “stunningly beautiful.” “You get to see these ruins filmed in a way they’ve never been filmed before” he said. “They’re kind of reminiscent of an Indiana Jones-kind of environment.”
The 4,000-acre reserve is a facility of Millsaps College in Jackson. Zipple filmed Millsaps anthropology professor George Bey, 56, and his students at work there. “We were primarily working on excavating several large buildings, including a pyramid in the center of the city,” said Bey. Bey said Kiuic was a unique place for Zipple to film because when the Mayan people abandoned it, much of it was left as is. “It was so out of the way, it didn’t suffer any disturbance when it was abandoned,” he said. “Many of the objects were left on the houses on the hill.” Bey said in the documentary he explores what led the Mayan people to the difficult decision to leave their city.
John Bredar, senior executive producer of the National Geographic Specials, said he believes even people who have never been interested in the Mayans before will enjoy the documentary. “Anybody who’s interested in interesting mystery stories. It’s a cool mystery.
How come we didn’t know everything we thought we knew about this place and these people?” he said. Bredar said Zipple’s film work is amazing.
“It’s spectacularly visual. The dramatic re-creations are authentic. We have this mini-helicopter that carries a camera and we fly through the jungle and it’s such a cool way to see it,” he said.
Bey agrees the documentary will have widespread appeal. “Not only is it fun, it’s the kind of story that people will say, I see the Maya as people, not just as ancient people, as forgotten people,” he said. “They went through a lot of important events and experiences. I think people are going to be fascinated.”
Tres mil firmas la propuesta para tener más horas de luz en QUINTANA ROO
Tres mil firmas la propuesta para tener más horas de luz en QUINTANA ROO.
La propuesta de adelantar una hora el horario en Quintana Roo, que lanzó Cristina Alcayaga Núñez, ex dirigente del Consejo Coordinador Empresarial del Caribe (CCE), y que se encuentra en FACEBOOK, cuenta con el apoyo de más de tres mil firmas entre las que destacan hoteleros, empresarios y políticos.
Máximo García Rocha, vocero de la cadena hotelera Real Resort, comentó que sería una buena idea la del cambio de horario, pero implicaría una serie de acciones que podrían dificultar su aprobación. Con esta propuesta, dijo, la entidad gozaría de dos horas más de sol, ya que se mantendría el horario de verano y el turista podría disfrutar las bellezas naturales de los diferentes destinos de Quintana Roo.
Alcayaga Núñez lanzó desde diciembre del año pasado, a través de Facebook, el movimiento “10 mil firmas para tener dos horas más de sol en Quintana Roo”, con el objetivo de que el estado mantenga durante todo el año y sin cambios el horario de verano. La carta, que se puede observar a través de la página www.crisalcayaga.com, dice a la letra: Una propuesta encabezada por ciudadanos de Quintana Roo que pretende devolver al estado un mismo horario durante todo el año, basada en el argumento de que el destino no está ubicado en el mismo paralelo que la Ciudad de México, entre otros factores de tipo social, turístico y económico que la sustentan.
Además, que en las justificaciones del documento -que entregarán a la siguiente legislatura federal- se consideran razones de carácter económico-social para el cambio, como el hecho de que al ser un destino turístico, un mejor uso de la luz solar permitiría incentivar la actividad en la zona hotelera. En consecuencia, explica en la carta, aumentaría la derrama económica y el bienestar social de la población quintanarroense, que ya suma más de un millón de personas. Aunado a que las consideraciones de la Comisión Federal de Electricidad en torno al ahorro de energía con el cambio de horario, también son abordadas en la iniciativa como una media que debe ser evaluada para cada estado del país, según su economía, necesidades y costumbres.
“Quizá fue bueno para todo el país hace 15 años pero ahora ya no. No es posible que en Cancún tengamos que ponernos la pijama a las 17 horas en febrero porque ya es de noche, eso no incentiva a los turistas a salir y a gastar, ni tampoco a los cancunenses y eso no es bueno para nadie”, comentó en la carta la ex dirigente del Consejo Coordinador Empresarial del Caribe.
Fuente: SIPE.COM
How Not to Get Beheaded in Mexico
How Not to Get Beheaded in Mexico
By: Douglas Anthony Cooper:
Reproduced from it’s original posting at: HuffingtonPost
I can’t even remember when I last experienced the beheading of a close friend. Everyone assumes it must be a weekly, or even a daily event: after all, I live in Mexico. The truth, however, is that you are as likely to have your head removed against your will in my town — Oaxaca — as you are to be murdered by roving, machete-crazed gangs in Martha’s Vineyard.
You protest: slavering butchers are thin on the ground in Martha’s Vineyard. Ah, but we do not have beheadings in Oaxaca. To be honest, they’re unconscionably lax about slaughtering tourists in this city. It just doesn’t happen. There are whole great swaths of Mexico — some 95% of the country — that are untouched by the drug war. In these places, tourists are annoyingly safe.
Take out a map. Mexico is rather large. To avoid all of Mexico because you fear drug violence, is like cancelling your trip to the Napa Valley because you hear that people are flying airplanes into towers in New York City. (I’m sure a lot of Europeans did just that.)
The homicide rate in most Mexican cities is simply not very exciting. People who read newspapers — they are legion — will tell you that Mexico City is Elm Street on steroids. No way they’re taking their family anywhere near the Mexican capital. Yet these same people do not think twice about hauling their beloved brood to Disney World.
Disney World is in Orlando. Orlando, Florida.
What, you’re not trembling? The rate of violent crime in Orlando is really something. At the theme park itself you might not encounter drooling gangs with machetes, but the likelihood of getting slaughtered is much higher in the city of Orlando than it is in Mexico City. The homicide rate in Mexico City is sub-terrifying: 8.3 out of 100,000. The rate in Orlando? Honey, you don’t want to know.
If you’re truly bent on living dangerously, hit the French Quarter for a shot of faux absinthe. New Orleans is leveling humans at a rate of 58 per 100,000. To be fair, that’s an improvement upon the homicide record set in 1994: an awe-inspiring 85.8. No doubt champagne is flowing at the tourist board.
Don’t get me wrong: I worship New Orleans. It’s a lot safer than it used to be, and I
would not hesitate to visit. Still, Mayor Mitch Landrieu admitted — when discussing a local high school — that for part of last year, “a student attending John McDonogh was more likely to be killed than a soldier in Afghanistan.”
Funny that people are not dissuaded from visiting New Orleans — or Disney World — by travel advisories that read like torture porn.
Oh, you do want to know that Orlando statistic? That would be 11.7
((28 homicides, in a population of 238,300). Which is better than New
Orleans or Baghdad, but way higher than Mexico City. Ironically, Orlando receives the same kind of hyperventilating press in the UK that Mexico suffers in Canada and the US: to Brits, Orlando is The Mouse That Roared, Then Indiscriminately Dismembered.
The internet too offers exquisite advice regarding Orlando. Somehow, I suspect this is hyperbole: “Don’t be surprised if your sleeping child has been taken right out of their hotel bed in the wee hours of the morning.” I mean, come on. You have my permission to be surprised.
In fact, the capital of America is a much more dangerous place than the capital of Mexico: You are 10 times more likely to get beheaded on a school trip to the Lincoln Memorial than you are strolling through downtown Mexico City.
Okay, I’m lying. You are ten times more likely to be murdered in a drug-related crime. (The rate of actual beheadings is suppressed by travel agents on both sides of the border.)
People ask me, regularly, how they can travel safely to Mexico. Here I have impeccable advice: follow this, and you’re pretty much guaranteed to keep your head. Taking notes? Good.
Do not, under any circumstances, take a job with a major drug cartel. Just say no. You do not want to be a hit man, or a mule, or even middle management — that’s how people get killed.
I mean it: that is how people get killed. Sunbathing, on the other hand, is oddly uneventful. Yes, there are a few places in Mexico that I would avoid, unless I were applying for that gig (which I urge you to reconsider). Most border towns are not the destination of choice, except I suppose when brothel-hopping, in which case I’m told a soupçon of danger is bracing (and well-deserved). Acapulco too has declined. It was once a town in which you had a good chance of having a bad time. It is now a town in which you have no chance of having a good time.
And Mexico City, while not particularly murderous, is somewhere to be very careful: petty crime is rife, and not-so-petty crime (kidnapping) is a real issue. I travel through Mexico City all the time, and even chose to live there fairly recently, but I take the usual precautions — I restrict myself to taxis from official taxi stands; I don’t use bank machines on the street; and I suppress the urge to wave my arms around and yell, “Rob the Canadian!” (If you would like to give it a shot, that would be: “¡Saqueen al canadiense!”)
Lots of really nice cities are getting a bit hairy: Guadalajara, for instance. The San Francisco Chronicle has a useful list of places to avoid — mostly areas on the American border, and south along the Pacific Coast to the state of Guerrero. The Washington Post has another useful list: they add to this the entire state of Veracruz (which is very sad — it’s lovely). These two guides will steer you clear of all the places you have been reading about, including the very few resort towns that have become dangerous: Mazatlán, for instance, and Acapulco.
Again, however, this is a tiny part of Mexico. “Of 2,500 municipalities (what we call counties), only 80, or fewer than five per cent, have been affected by the drug war.”
Graphic anecdotes are hard to ignore, by design, but they are useless when trying to grasp the nature of a country that is not simply vast, but immeasurably diverse. You know how Los Angeles doesn’t have a whole lot in common with an Amish community in Pennsylvania? Well, multiply that difference a thousand-fold when comparing Ciudad Juarez (a genuinely dangerous place) to a Maya village in the state of Yucatán.
In fact, you are quite a bit safer in this state — which includes the ruins of Chichen Itza and Uxmal — than you are in Canada. The national homicide rate in Canada is 1.85 victims per 100,000. Sorry, kids, but that’s a war zone relative to Yucatán: .5 in 100,000.
Mexico’s homicide rate as a nation isn’t even world-class. The country is in fact something of a sissy relative to the thugs in the neighborhood. Before avoiding Mexico, cross the following nations off your list: Honduras, El Salvador, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Venezuela, Jamaica, Belize, Guatemala, Bahamas, Columbia, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil… ah, but I’m boring you. I shouldn’t be: All of these countries — and this is only half the list — are murderfests relative to Mexico. Some of these places are worse than Miami.
Let’s put this in perspective. Imagine a nice family from Mérida planning their vacation in Canada. They do research on the internet, and decide that some things are just too risky. Tea at the Empress Hotel, for instance. Victoria BC is the second most dangerous city in Canada? “Butchart Gardens” must be Canadian slang for “the place where people get butchered.”
So our family turns elsewhere. Hmm. Probably best to avoid “Edmonton’s Murder Belt.” Aiee. We’ll go east. Regina? Are you out of your mind? “Saskatchewan reported the highest Crime Severity Index, followed by Manitoba.” How about the East Coast? Not if our worried Mexican family cares about that crime severity thing: “St. John’s had the largest increase.” This is awful.
At last, after carefully considering Prince Edward Island, our sensible family decides it is just not worth the risk. (After all, homicide in PEI has skyrocketed.) You would have to be a fool to leave Mexico.
All right, all right. The beyond-exponential increase in homicide associated with Prince Edward Island — when looked at closely — is not really that alarming. One whole person was killed in 2011. As opposed to zero, in the five preceding years. Prince Edward Island is hilariously safe. The Mexican government has been decent enough to refrain from issuing travel advisories, despite the crime rates in Abbotsford and Thunder Bay. Level heads have prevailed.
The truth is that most of Canada is almost as safe as Yucatán.
ex Miss Universo Ximena Navarrete Graba en Tulum promocional para difundir cultura maya
ex Miss Universo Ximena Navarrete Graba en Tulum promocional para difundir cultura maya.
TULUM, 15 de febrero.-La ex Miss Universo Ximena Navarrete Rosete arribó a esta ciudad de Tulum Riviera Mayabpara grabar varios promocionales con el fin de dar a conocer más de la cultura maya.
Así también se dio el tiempo de convivir com quienes la identificaron le pidieron la foto del recuerdo.
Alrededor de las 18:00 horas del pasado martes la tapatía y digna representante de la belleza mexicana arribó a esta ciudad, e inmediatamente se dirigió a la Iglesia Maya, donde visitó a los dignatarios indígenas y primeros habitantes de esta cabecera municipal.
Los promocionales que grabará forman parte de una serie de videos que buscan promover y resaltar la cultura de cada entidad de la República mexicana, los cuales serán presentados a través del programa denominado “Tour Made In México”, conducido por Ximena Navarrete. Los promocionales serán presentados en diversos países, entre ellos Estados Unidos, para promocionar los destinos turísticos de México, según dio a conocer Fernando González, jefe de Medios de Ximena Navarrete.
Tras grabar los promocionales con infantes, se dio a la tarea de aprender más acerca de la cultura maya, así com también de su lenguaje. Al mismo tiempo que llevó presentes a los dignatarios para agradecer la hospitalidad que le fue brindada. De acuerdo con el itinerario, la reina de belleza y su equipo visitarán también la Reserva de la Biosfera de Sian Ka’an y la comunidad de Javier Rojo Gómez.
U.S. State Department has updated travel warning on Mexico, the Mexican Caribbean is excluded from the warning
U.S. State Department has updated travel warning on Mexico, the Mexican Caribbean is excluded from the warning.
U.S. State Department has updated its travel warning on Mexico to include more detail on the ongoing drug violence and threats to visitors, but also spelling out which parts of the country are considered safe and which regions should be avoided by Americans.
Specifically, the Mexican Caribbean is excluded from the warning. That includes the entire province of Quintana Roo and Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, the Riviera Maya, and Tulum; and the province of Yucatan, including Merida and Chichen Itza.
The Mexican Caribbean is more than 1,000 miles away from the U.S.-Mexico border region, where most of the drug violence you see on TV occurs. Until and if this violence spreads to the Yucatan Peninsula –and there’s no sign of that happening– you should not let the violence taking place more in the border region affect your decision to travel to Mexico’s Caribbean beach destinations. You can read the entire travel warning here.
Source: GoCaribbean
Mexico Has a Record 190 Million Tourists in 2011
Mexico Has a Record 190 Million Tourists in 2011.
MEXICO CITY –Mexico registered “nearly 190 million tourists,” of whom 22.67 million were foreigners, in 2011, eclipsing the record 185.7 million tourists registered in 2008, the Tourism Secretariat said.
The figures, which were obtained from the Bank of Mexico, show that the number of visitors from Brazil rose 66 percent, while arrivals from Russia, up 55 percent, Peru, up 33 percent, and China, up 30 percent, also soared, the secretariat said. The number of visitors from Colombia rose 23.2 percent, while arrivals from Argentina were up 18 percent and the number of visitors from Italy, up 13 percent, Australia, up 13 percent, and Britain, up 11.6 percent, also rose markedly.
Average spending by foreign tourists rose to $157.70 per visitor, up 7 percent from 2010, which had been the highest level registered. Arrivals of foreign tourists totaled 22.67 million, up 2 percent from 2010 and 0.20 percent relative to 2008, the year when the previous record had been set.
Domestic tourists, meanwhile, totaled 167.3 million, up 4 percent from 2010 and 2.6 percent relative to 2008.
Several foreign airlines that serve Mexico reported large increases in passenger counts, including 71 percent at British Airways, 42 percent at United Airlines and 29 percent at Delta Airlines.
Among Mexican carriers, Interjet posted the best numbers, with its passenger count up 58 percent, while Aeromexico reported a 43 percent increase and Viva Aerobus saw its numbers rise about 36 percent, with all the figures being relative to 2010, the secretariat said.
The government declared 2011 the “Year of Tourism” in an effort to bolster the industry and counter the effects of media reports about the drug-related violence that has left nearly 50,000 people dead in Mexico sicne December 2006.
The tourism industry is one of the main sources of foreign exchange for Mexico and a generator of both direct and indirect jobs.
Source: EFE vía LAHT
Avanzan Obras en Tulum, casi terminadas
Avanzan Obras en Tulum, casi terminadas
TULUM, 12 de febrero.-Están avanzados los trabajos de la ciclopista de Tulum, el monumento y el malecón de Cobá, a cargo de la Secretaría de Infraestructura y Transporte (Sintra).
Las tres obras, que en conjunto suman cerca de 20 millones de pesos en inversión que realiza el Gobierno del Estado, están cerca de su conclusión, dijo el secretario de Infraestructura y Transportes, Mario Castro Basto.
En entrevista, el titular de Sintra señaló que el malecón de Cobá está cerca de su terminación, sólo falta la iluminación, al igual que el monumento a la entrada del poblado. Mientras que la construcción de la ciclopista está casi a 85 por ciento, faltando sólo los detalles para esta obra de poco más de un kilómetro de longitud que corre paralela a la carretera federal, del lado del carril Sur a Norte del tramo municipalizado de la carretera 307 hasta llegar a la entrada a la zona arqueológica de Tulum.
Fuente: Diaro de Quintana Roo
Destacan mayas la importancia de las cabañuelas
Destacan mayas la importancia de las cabañuelas
Fuente: SIPSE Carlos Yabur/SIPSE JOSÉ MARÍA MORELOS, Q. Roo.
Mayas morelenses resaltaron que es de gran importancia las cabañuelas, debido a que desde épocas antiguas los mayas le han atribuido mayor peso a esta actividad para poder pronosticar la influencia de los fenómenos climáticos para el año venidero. De eso dependerá mucho el éxito o fracaso de sus actividades agropecuarias que incide directamente en su economía.
Manifestaron que de acuerdo a sus experiencias sobre los registros realizados en años anteriores sobre el comportamiento del clima, es muy probable que este año la situación del tiempo tenga una variante y la prueba es que desde temprano ya comenzó a llover, en los últimos días han caído importantes lluvias.
Dijeron que hoy en día no le han dado la debida importancia a los fenómenos que se deben de registrar conforme avanza el período de las cabañuelas, esto se hacían en épocas cuando nuestros abuelos nos enseñaban a descifrar el clima que iba a prevalecer durante el año, sin embargo, aún todavía hay campesinos que se basan en este fenómeno y aún le dan vigencia y uso para trabajar las milpas.
Al responder a la pregunta ¿Cómo nuestros abuelos observan el clima y cómo lo aplican en sus vidas? ¿Cómo lo comunican a su pueblo y por qué lo siguen utilizando hasta la fecha? Indicaron que han visto un cambio radical en los efectos, de igual forma en los resultados de los mismos, y aún la gente de mayor edad lo sigue llevando a la práctica para poder pronosticar y lleva a cabo sus actividades agropecuarias, en algunas veces no resulta y es por eso que las cabañuelas han perdido la confianza de la gente maya.
En cuanto a la difusión de las experiencias, afirmaron que el pueblo lo transmite por vía oral y lo hace durante las principales actividades o las ceremonias mayas, como el “Ch’aa chak” -ceremonia de pedimento de lluvia, en la cual toda o parte de una comunidad participa en ella.
Otra de las ofrendas más comunes que se realizan es el saa ka’, donde piden el permiso para poder iniciar alguna actividad agrícola o pecuaria. Manifestaron que esto no se debe de dejar y lo mejor es transmitir la información sobre lo que significan las cabañuelas para los pueblos mayas a las nuevas generaciones para que puedan compartir y seguir con estas tradiciones y más que nada la importancia y necesidad de creer en algo.
En la actualidad los mayas aún tienen claro que las cabañuelas son de vital importancia para quienes trabajan el campo, y es una forma de aprovechar los conocimientos generados en la región y que se traducen en resultados inmediatos para quienes trabajan la milpa.
México registra cifra récord de turistas en 2011, informa la Sectur
México registra cifra récord de turistas en 2011, informa la Sectur.
Cerca de 190 millones de turistas, de los cuales 22,67 millones fueron extranjeros, visitaron el país, cifra que supera los 185.7 millones de 2008
EFE CIUDAD DE MÉXICO, 12 de febrero.-
México registró el pasado año “cerca de 190 millones de turistas”, de los cuales 22,67 millones fueron extranjeros, una cifra que en términos absolutos supera los 185,7 millones de 2008, informó hoy la Secretaría de Turismo (Sectur).
Las cifras, obtenidas del Banco de México, indican que el turismo foráneo hacia México que más creció fue el procedente de Brasil (+66%), Rusia (+55%), Perú (+33%) y China (+30%). Por detrás de esos países también hubo alzas notables en la llegada de visitantes desde Colombia (+23,2%), Argentina (+18%), Italia y Australia (+13%) y Reino Unido (+11,6%).
El gasto promedio de los viajeros extranjeros ascendió a 157,7 dólares por turista, cifra superior en un 7% a la de 2010, que era el máximo hasta ahora.
En turismo extranjero alcanzó los 22,67 millones de personas, un alza del 2% respecto a 2010, y del 0,2% respecto a 2008, el año que tenía el récord hasta ahora en este apartado de la estadística.
El turismo interno, esto es, los mexicanos que recorrieron distintos destino del país, fue de 167,3 millones, un 4% más que en 2010 y un 2,6% por encima del nivel de 2008.
Varias aerolíneas internacionales que vuelan a México tuvieron un aumento importante en la cifra de pasajeros: del 71% en el caso de British Airways, del 42% en el de la estadounidense United, y del 29 en el caso de la también estadounidense Delta Airlines. Entre las aerolíneas mexicanas la que mejores registros tuvo fue Interjet, que creció un 58% en términos de pasaje, seguida por Aeroméxico, que aumentó un 43%, y por Viva Aerobus, que lo hizo un 36%, en todos los casos respecto a 2010.
A principios del año pasado el Gobierno mexicano declaró 2011 como “Año del turismo” en un intento de impulsar el sector y contrarrestar la información negativa sobre la ola de violencia criminal que afecta al país, y que ha dejado más de 47 mil 500 muertes desde diciembre de 2006.
El turismo se encuentra entre las primeras fuentes de ingresos y de divisas del país y es un potente generador de empleos tanto directos como indirectos, solo superado por los ingresos petroleros y por los envíos de remesas. jgl 2012-02-12 1
Fuente: Excelsior
Estuve en… México Tulum, hacia donde nace el sol
Estuve en… México Tulum, hacia donde nace el sol.
Fuente: Lanacion.com
El sol azotaba sin piedad. Después de colocarnos los sombreros y agarrar una botella de agua, emprendimos la caminata hacia esa ciudad que albergó las almas de una civilización llena de misterios y fantasías. Se colaba una brisa fresca que traía un cierto alivio, proveniente de un mar absolutamente turquesa que, seguramente, habría iluminado la vida de los que allí vivieron.
Las ruinas se mantienen con gran dignidad, acordonadas, limpias, en medio de escenarios naturales absolutamente únicos que logran crear un clima espiritual que remonta definitivamente a otros tiempos. No son las primeras ruinas con las que me cruzo: viví en Roma y tuve el placer de conocer Egipto. Pero cuando me enfrento con estos testimonios del pasado algo me embarga, algo se apodera de mí. No es lo cuantificable, no es la piedra dura, sino lo que todo eso transmite. Es la emoción de pensar el tiempo en otras personas, que de alguna manera se hacen presentes y te obsequian un tiempo en común. Creo que eso es lo que verdaderamente me atrapa y me ubica en un corte particular, algo que no ofrece lo cotidiano.
Antiguamente Tulum se denominaba Zamá, que significa salida del sol. De cierta forma se me representa un nombre con magia. Aún hoy esta ceremonia, la salida del sol, convoca a mucha gente y jamás sentí que alguien se desilusionara.
Tulum, al igual que Chichen Itzá, fue una ciudad dedicada al planeta Venus, considerado como una deidad dual con el nombre de Kukulkán, y su culto fue introducido primero a Chichen Itzá, proveniente del altiplano central, donde se originó la religión de dicho Dios, sólo que con el nombre de Quetzalcóatl.
Los primeros europeos en avistar la ciudad maya fueron expedicionarios españoles. Una vez consumada la conquista, los trabajos forzados que los españoles imponían a la población indígena ocasionaron que Tulum fuera poco a poco abandonada y la vegetación comenzara a cubrirla. La estructura más importante del sitio es la denominada El Castillo, y está separada del resto de las ceremonias religiosas.
Otra estructura importante es el Templo del Dios Descendente, que consta de una plataforma que sostiene un edificio de una sola pieza con banquetas adosadas a sus muros laterales; algunas conservan restos de pinturas.
Después de contemplar los riscos, la playa, ese mar inconmensurablemente luminoso, emprendimos el regreso. Estábamos cansados, sedientos y acalorados. Ingresamos a un restaurante típico, ornamentado al mejor estilo mexicano, lleno de objetos coloridos. El aire acondicionado empezaba a bajar nuestros latidos. Y lo mejor, las cervezas heladas con el gajo de limón. Allí pacientemente esperamos por nuestros tacos, nuestras tortillas y nuestros nachos.
Lidia Giurincich de Cachaza.
National Geographic’s Andrew Evans Embarks on an Adventure to Uncover Mayan Mysteries, una Tulum, Chiapas and Yucatan and Will Tweet All About it
National Geographic’s Andrew Evans Embarks on an Adventure to Uncover Mayan Mysteries, una Tulum, Chiapas and Yucatan and Will Tweet All About it.
In anticipation of the end of the Mayan calendar on Dec. 21, 2012, Andrew Evans, National Geographic Traveler magazine’s “Digital Nomad,” has embarked on a cultural adventure to Mexico to uncover the mysteries of the Maya.
He will travel to five Mexican states —Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Yucatan —to visit some well-known Mayan ruins, including Chichen Itza and Tulum, as well as some more obscure and less-visited sites of Mexico, including one of the oldest sites in the country: Izapa.
Through Feb. 29, Evans will tweet, blog, vlog and “Instagram” his travels on NationalGeographic.com’s Digital Nomad blog (http://digitalnomad.nationalgeographic.com/), his Twitter feed @WheresAndrew and his Where’s A Andrew National Geographic’s Andrew Evans Embarks on an Adventure to Uncover Mayan Mysteries, una Tulum, Chiapas Facebook page.
“I learned about the Maya from reading National Geographic. Now I am traveling to all these places I read about in the magazine in hopes of uncovering some of these mysteries on my own,” Evans said. “Follow me on Twitter and Facebook in real time and read my Digital Nomad blog for daily discoveries along the route of the Maya.”
Evans will develop his own itinerary using back issues of National Geographic as his guidebook and referencing the work and discoveries of dozens of National Geographic explorers who have studied the Maya and covered their history and culture in depth for the magazine. He will explore 16 Mayan ruins, looking for the unexpected, the untold and the weird but true. As he discovers the ancient world of the Maya, he will also experience the modern Mayan culture of Mexico —in cities like San Cristobal de las Casas, Villahermosa and Merida, considered to be “the safest city in Mexico.”
Evans is a veteran travel writer for National Geographic Traveler and National Geographic’s Intelligent Travel blog. In June last year he documented his Canadian adventures as he explored the best of Ontario, from festivals to fly fishing. In September, he tweeted and blogged his way around Japan, from the stylish streets of Tokyo to the mountains of Hokkaido to the city of Hiroshima.
In the fall he wined and dined his way through Louisiana, experiencing the best of the bayou and New Orleans. He finished the year skiing, snow-shoeing and trekking through Western Canada’s ski country with renowned mountaineers, ski instructors and naturalists.
In 2010, Evans journeyed from Washington, D.C., to Antarctica —a 10,000-mile trip through 14 countries —using public transportation as far as he could go. He rode buses to Ushuaia in Argentina, the southernmost city in the world, and then boarded the MV National Geographic Explorer to Antarctica. Along the way, he broke international news as he discovered a completely black penguin —one of the rarest genetic mutations and seldom seen anywhere on the planet. His pictures and video of the penguin were broadcast around the world.
In 2009, Evans’ travels took him to Australia, where he traversed the continent, interacting with his followers via Twitter and on his blog. He dived at the Great Barrier Reef, drove hundreds of miles on the Great Ocean Road, took in a 360-degree view of Melbourne by hot-air balloon and toured a haunted prison.
“Andrew Evans is the first true National Geographic digital explorer,” said Keith Bellows, National Geographic Traveler magazine editor in chief. “In Mexico, he’ll follow the path of great Society explorers before him to uncover the mysteries of the Mayan culture. Expect surprises.”
SOURCE National Geographic Traveler
En Tulum Riviera Maya Harán Libramiento Vial
En Tulum Riviera Maya Harán Libramiento Vial
Víctor Mas Tha, en su calidad de ex comisariado del ejido Jacinto Pat, dio a conocer que para este primer trimestre del año se prevé el inicio de la construcción de libramiento vial con una inversión superior a los 80 millones de pesos.
En entrevista, el ex comisariado municipal dio a conocer que la Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT), ya tiene el proyecto autorizado, los recursos técnicos y jurídicos se encuentran en proceso; para que durante las próximas semanas se tenga un dictamen.
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Expuso que será durante el primer trimestre de este 2012 cuando de inicio a los trabajos del libramiento vial que comprenderá una extensión de aproximadamente 25 kilómetros, iniciarán de sur a norte, entre el kilómetro 224 de la carretera federal Tulum-Playa del Carmen, perteneciente al ejido Tulum, pasando por el kilómetro ocho de la carretera estatal Tulum-Coba y concluir en el kilómetro 249+200 de la carretera federal Tulum-Playa del Carmen dentro del ejido Jacinto Pat.
Mas Tah concluyó diciendo que este proyecto ya es un hecho, pues las negociaciones han concluido con los posesionarios de las tierras de los ejidos.
Aerolíneas alemanas, interesadas en ampliar sus vuelos a Cancún
Aerolíneas alemanas, interesadas en ampliar sus vuelos a Cancún.
CANCÚN, Q.Roo.-
Aerolíneas alemanas se muestran interesadas en ampliar sus vuelos hacia Cancún, que se consolida como uno de los destinos que más disfrutan los turistas germanos, aseguró Rudolf Bittorf, cónsul honorario de Alemania. Abundó que sostendrá una reunión con representantes de las aerolíneas en algunos días más para saber más sobre esta posibilidad, que resultaría conveniente y favorable para las empresas y el destino.
Datos proporcionados por Aeropuertos del Sureste (Asur) indican que las aerolíneas Airberlin, Cóndor, LTU y TUI realizan en promedio seis operaciones semanales cada una desde Alemania a Cancún.
El cónsul Alemán comentó que durante el 2011 visitaron Quintana Roo alrededor de 100 mil turistas germanos y el destino preferido fue Playa del Carmen, seguido de Cancún y Tulum. Abundó que en este año se espera un incremento del 10% en el número de visitantes teutones a la entidad, es decir alrededor de 10 mil personas más, lo que redundaría en una mayor derrama económica para todos.
Cabe mencionar, que la revista especializada “Travel One” colocó hace algunas semanas a México como el principal punto de interés entre los turistas germanos y la Riviera Maya encabeza las preferencias dentro del país.
En su oportunidad, el mismo titular de turismo del estado, Juan Carlos González Hernández, reconoció que el turismo alemán es el tercer mercado europeo más importante en Quintana Roo, después del español y el inglés.
Rudolf Bittorf, manifestó que el turista alemán es de alto poder adquisitivo, por lo que su derrama económica es mayor a la del turista estadounidense promedio, que es de 600 dólares durante su estancia de cuatro días, ya que gusta de adquirir más recuerdos, hacer tours a lugares que le resultan atractivos y su estadía es de hasta cinco días.
Manifestó que el incremento en el turismo alemán que se espera para Quintana Roo en el 2012, sería en parte por el programa Mundo Maya y las profecías mayas que han levantado expectación en todos los países. “Esperamos que la Secretaría de Turismo realice una campaña de promoción fuerte en Europa por este acontecimiento, aunque por el momento no se menciona mucho en Alemania”, reconoció.
Con información de SIPE.COM
The End of the Maya World Will Boost Tourism in Tulum and Riviera Maya
Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) –The end of the world, as predicted by doomsday interpreters of the Maya calendar, may bring hundreds of thousands more tourists flocking to Mexico this year, according to the head of the country’s tourism board.
Visitor numbers will rise 10 percent from last year, boosted by tourists drawn to Tulum, Palenque, Chichen Itza and other archaeological sites, and possibly pass the 2008 record, said Rodolfo Lopez Negrete, chief operating officer of the Tourism Board.
Trip bookings to the Maya region in the south of Mexico this winter have already been very “robust,” Lopez Negrete said.
The Mayan culture flourished in Mexico and Central America until about 1,000 AD, including cities of as many as 100,000 people. December 2012 marks the end of the Maya calendar cycle, though some interpret it as an apocalypse, as in the film “2012” starring John Cussack. “Mexico is a cultural superpower,” Lopez Negrete said in a Jan. 27 interview. “We already kicked off with a very strong season.” Tourism is one of Mexico’s biggest foreign currency earners, after auto exports, oil production and remittances, bringing in $11.9 billion in 2010.
The nation is investing almost $10 million to promote destinations and new tourism routes in five Maya states, Lopez Negrete said, where he expects both local and foreign tourism to total 52 million people this year. Initial results show all visits from abroad last year reached about 22.4 million, Lopez Negrete said, the same as in 2010. Trips to Mexico by air rose 2.1 percent over the same period, he said.
Swine Flu
International travel peaked in 2008 at 22.6 million visitors, according to data provided by the Tourism Board. The U.S. recession and a swine-flu scare caused visits to drop to 19.6 million in 2009, before starting to recover in 2010, the data showed.
The industry has also faced U.S. travel warnings for several states as drug-related deaths escalated after President Felipe Calderon sent troops to fight cartels. More than 47,500 people have been killed from December 2006 to September 2011. That hasn’t stopped Mexico from increasing its share of the U.S. tourism market, Lopez Negrete said.
About 16.6 percent of Americans who traveled abroad last year came to Mexico, up from 15.1 percent in 2010, he said. “We’re still looking at the U.S. market as a wonderful opportunity,” Lopez Negrete said. “Americans are traveling closer to home.”
–Editors: Philip Sanders, Richard Jarvie To contact the reporter on this story: Nacha Cattan in Mexico City at ncattan@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joshua Goodman at jgoodman19@bloomberg.net.
Tulum Beach Blog 