The duality of Yucatan: record tourism in 2024, but with the worst summer for Mayan monuments

Talking about the Yucatan Peninsula is not just talking about another state in Mexico. It is one of the founding states of modern Mexico and the cradle of the Mayan civilization. It was a key region during the post-classical period and has Cichén Itzá, the jewel in the crown of Mexican tourism with a pyramid that continues to arouse fascination.

And, speaking of tourism, Yucatan has had one good and one bad: the numbers reflect that Tourism has taken off again in the regionBut if we focus on cultural tourism, there are already those who call it the worst summer in recent years.

Good tourism

Mexico is in the oil rush, they export a lot of corn, they are becoming allies of China in terms of trade and the avocado industry is very powerful. However, as in many other countries, tourism is a crucial part of their economy.

It is not in vain that recent projects such as the impressive Mayan Train have been developed and the National Institute of Anthropology and History is continually highlighting the cultural heritage not only of Yucatan, but of the rest of the country. This is thanks to its conservation of historical elements, their exhibition, the discovery of new archaeological sites and the discovery of secrets beneath others already known.

Apart from the historical elements, there are other reasons to visit the region and the Yucatan Tourism Development Secretariat reported which expected the arrival of 6.7 million tourists during 2024. This is a considerable increase. If we take into account that the complete data for the last pre-pandemic year, 2019, was 3.2 million visitors (2.8 million by air and 400,000 by cruise ship).

Mérida would be the nerve center of tourism in Yucatán and, although it is curious, national tourism represents 90% of the income of this sector in Mexico. data They seem to support that projection. Authorities commented a few weeks ago that Yucatan had reached the maximum historical amount of air travelers with 1,796,889 people.

In June alone, 302,300 arrivals by air were recorded, a historic high in Yucatan. And not only has there been an increase in tourists, but also in cargo, with a total of 12,774 tons, which also represents the historic high for the first six months of the year.

BUT

One thing is total tourism and another is the data on visitors to archaeological sites and museums. Here, the INAH (with data that collects The Diario de Yucatán is not so happy, stating that it is the worst summer in recent years.

Taking into account the data for July and August, which would be the strongest of the season, compared to the data for 2023 There has been a decrease of 16.4% to museums and archaeological sites. It is the peak season for tourism due to the summer holidays and the decline in cultural tourists has been confirmed since the rebound in 2022, where an increase of 33.2% was experienced. These are the data from recent summers:

• 2018 – 754,047 tourists
• 2019 – 623,484
• 2020 – year of pandemic
• 2021 – 482,676 tourists in a year of recovery
• 2022 – 643,194 tourists
• 2023 – 600,144 tourists
• 2024 – 501,469 tourists

The positive note is that, In the annual balance, 2024 is ahead thanks to an extremely strong January. According to the INAH, from January to August 2023, 1,083,040 people visited archaeological sites and museums. In the same period in 2024, the figure is 1,124,122 people. It is not much more, but it is more.

The favourite destinations are the pre-Hispanic Mayan remains, chosen by 97% of tourists compared to 3% who prefer museums, and something interesting is the ranking of the favourite archaeological sites. Here there was no doubt about the first place, but it is still interesting to see the data for August:

1. Cichén Itzá – 181,729 visitors
2. Uxmal – 23,132 visitors
3. Ek Balam – 12,869
4. Ake – 8,737
5. Xcambó – 3,293
6. Kabah – 2,757
7. Izamal – 2,498
8. Labna – 868
9. Acanceh – 715
10. Sayil – 683

Image | Burkhard Mücke, Daniel Schwen

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