Q. Roo travel agencies “boycott” Chichén over entrance-fee hikes

Starting this week, some 80 travel agencies from Quintana Roo are initiating a “boycott” against the archaeological site of Chichén Itzá, due mainly to the increase in the entrance fee to the archaeological zone.

According to Sergio González Rubiera, President of the Mexican Association of Travel Agencies of Quintana Roo (AMAV), the measure taken by Yucatan state government to double the cost of entry to the site from $ 189.00 pesos to $ 398.00 pesos, was due to a revenue-raising effort, and they were not consulted.

“It is not just that reason (the increase in income to Chichén Itzá), which we originally considered an irresponsibility to announce an increase, because the travel agencies of Quintana Roo, we were not even notified nor there was an approach by some authority in Yucatán,” said González Rubiera.

The strategy, he said, will be to stop promoting the Chichén Itzá destination starting this week, which will impact immediately on the arrival of tourists to the destination, without reneging on packages already sold in advance.

According to the leader of the AMAV in Quintana Roo, the impact represents the loss of income of almost 400 million pesos for Yucatan, since that was the approximate amount collected with the previous rate, and with an estimated average of 2.1 million foreign tourists for Chichén Itzá, entering through Quintana Roo.

“This problem is compounded by the current conditions in which the area is located, which we regret having to take this measure, but they have left us with no option, until we can sit down at a negotiating table where we can rethink these costs”, González Rubiera added, also referring to the problem of street vendors in the archaeological zone of Chichén Itzá.

He indicated that there was no notification to the travel agencies of Quintana Roo, despite being the main client of Yucatan and from where the most important flow of international tourists comes, with an average of more than 60 percent of visitors from that entity.

“What we will do is suspend the offer of the packages that include Chichén Itzá, and we will focus on destinations such as Chetumal, Cobá and Cancún, with the aim of waiting until we sit can down at a dialogue table,” the official said.

Text: Punto Medio/ Iván Duarte

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