Chichén Itzá falls to third national place in tourist arrivals

Chichén Itzá was ranked third in the country in terms of tourist affluence, for the first time in 25 months, since the protest of ejidatarios, artisans, street vendors and tourist guides of the archaeological zone prevented the daily arrival of seven thousand visitors, revealed the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

Likewise, Ek’Balam and Mayapán established a monthly record of tourist affluence by receiving 45 thousand tourists during January, since they were the archaeological zones that benefited the most during the 10 days of the closure of highway 180, specifically the Xcalakoop-Pisté road section.

From January 2 to 11, close to 70 thousand tourists did not visit Chichén Itzá, although they were transferred to other archaeological sites, such as Mayapán, Izamal and Ek’Balam, generating an economic loss of 20 million pesos in entrance fees.

During last January, the number of archaeological and museum tourism visitors was 1,663,503, an increase of 77.76 percent with respect to the same month last year, when the total was 935,822.

One million 19,687 people visited the country’s archeological sites alone, of which 212,115 tourists (20.8 percent) visited Tulum, Quintana Roo, followed by Teotihuacan, State of Mexico, with 177,933 visitors (17.45 percent) and Chichén Itzá, with 145,512 visitors (27.17 percent).

These three sites alone accounted for 52.52 percent of the national total, or slightly more than half.

From September 2020 to date, on five occasions, the capital of the Itzá has not been in first place in the monthly tables of tourist arrivals.

Therefore, in September and October 2020, Chichén Itzá was in third place, and in November of the same year it was in second place.

From December 2020 and in the 12 months of 2021 and 2022, it remained in first place, but in January 2023 it dropped to third place.

Due to the protest, both Ek’Balam and Mayapán registered a maximum of archaeological tourism arrivals.

In Ek’Balam alone, a pre-Columbian city located in Temozón, 37,31 visitors arrived last January, the highest number in a decade, since in January 2014 there were 22,878 visitors.

In the case of Mayapán, a pre-Hispanic city located in Tecoh, there were 8,484 visitors, surpassing the 7,302 that arrived in January 2020.
Ek’Balam was in fifth place in the national table of affluence, Uxmal in sixth place; Mayapán is in 17th place; Dzibilchaltún in 18th place; Kabah, in 26th place; Izamal, 36th; Xkambó, 39th; Aké, 50th; Labná, 55th, and Sayil, 56th.

TYT Newsroom