This was announced by Engineer Dario Flota, Secretary of Tourism of Yucatan-Mexico, in an interview with Visit7Wonders.
The objective of the new Tourist and Visitor Attention Center (CATVI), which is under construction, will be to provide better attention and greater comfort to all people who come to visit the archaeological zone, according to the Mexican tourism official.
This work adds to many other projects already realized, around the archaeological zone of Chichen Itzá, recognized as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. This legendary Mayan city closed 2024 as the most visited archaeological site in Mexico. With more than 2.2 million tourists, the place was consolidated as the main cultural destination of the country, attracting both national and foreign tourists.
The Secretary of Tourism of Yucatan, stressed that “it has always been a great pride for the state of Yucatan to have one of the most majestic cities of all that was the Mayan culture, which is preserved as the Chichén Itza (one of the New 7 Wonders of the World). The part that corresponds to the classical period has recently been opened to the public, that is, the oldest part (Chichén Viejo), and what they know in the part of the classical and post-classic period of the castle of Chichén Itzá. Last year it was the most visited archaeological area in Mexico, so it is not only a pride but an emblem for us in Yucatan.”
To the question of whether more investments have been made or if there are more tourists since Chichén Itzá was elected as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World, Engineer Dario Flota maintained that indeed “around Chichén Itzá several things have been happening, there is the city of Valladolid which is the largest and closest city to Chichén Itzá, which already has an offer of more than 1700 rooms, there is a Mayan train station near the archaeological zone, there is also a hotel of the Mayan train chain in Chichén Itzá and the number Of visitors has been growing year after year. What Chichen Itzá represents for Yucatan and neighboring peoples has been and will continue to be very important.”
Regarding the Mayan train, he explained that “the Mayan train project is a project that runs through 5 states of the Yucatan peninsula, there are more than 1500 kilometers of railways, the busiest route is the one that joins the cities of Mérida and Cancun and has the Chichén Itzá almost halfway, so it makes it easier for all the people who are in Quintana Roo the arrival at Chichén Itzá and continue to the city of Mérida or in the opposite direction as well.”
As for the expectations for 2025, the Secretary of Tourism of Yucatan said that “a new Visitor Center will be opened in Chichen Itzá to give better attention and greater comfort to all people who come to visit the archaeological zone, and with the infrastructure that has been made just to build the Mayan train and the hotel that is nearby, it is expected that the number of visitors will continue to grow.”
Astronomical phenomenon
In addition, the tourism official commented that there is great expectation for the equinox that happens twice a year, and whose first date of the year is March 21, “it is very close to taking place on March 21, the day of the equinox. Every year, on March 21 and September 23, there is an astronomical phenomenon, and that is that on the day of the equinox, when the sun descends in the afternoon, it projects on the wall of the pyramid the undulation of a snake that ends in the head of a snake that is at the foot of the pyramid.”
And he concluded “this phenomenon occurs twice a year, at sunset on the day of the equinox and there is very little left for this to happen this month. These are the days when the archaeological zone (of Chichén Itzá) records the highest number of visitors.”
New projects in the Chichen Itzá area
– The new Tourist and Visitor Service Center (CATVI) not only seeks to improve attention to tourists, but also coordinate with the Mayan Train project, whose route includes several Mayan sites, such as Chichen Itzá.
The CATVI, whose inauguration is scheduled for this year, is designed to offer archaeological, cultural and tourist information, in order to enrich the experience of users of the Mayan Train and those who visit the archaeological zone.
This effort is part of the Program for the Improvement of Archaeological Zones (Promeza), directed by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and the Ministry of Culture, in order to modernize and preserve the archaeological sites along the route of the Mayan Train.
– The Mayan train mentioned by the tourism official began operating in December 2023. In this context, the Mexican government claimed to have found “the greatest archaeological treasure” of recent decades during the construction works of the railway project.
“In Yucatan, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Chiapas we have discovered more than 1.4 million ceramic fragments, more than 50,000 movable and immovable property, such as palaces and structures, constituting the largest archaeological treasure found in recent decades in Mexico,” said the director of INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History), Diego Prieto Hernández.
– El Chichén Viejo, was hidden under the thicket of the jungle for more than 1,700 years, but the housing complex of the Mayan elite that is located a few kilometers from the Castle of Kukulcán, in the archaeological zone of Chichén Itzá, reopened in September 2023, gradually to the public to show its splendor after 35 years of research.
– On the other hand, the Great Museum of Chichen Itzá It was inaugurated on February 28, 2024, attached to the Secretariat of Culture of the Government of Mexico, through the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., visitors can go from Monday to Sunday, free of charge, to appreciate the pieces on display, among which you can see some of the archaeological objects recovered within the Sacred Cenote. In addition to a replica of the upper temple of the substructure of El Castillo, an room that houses a throne in the shape of a red jaguar and a Chac Mool, whose reproductions are also presented, among other things.
The Grand Museum of Chichen Itzá has 2,800 m2 of exhibition areas and 3,100 m2 of service to visitors. It exhibits more than 400 original pieces and archaeological remains that were rebuilt, and soon it will have a large immersion room with 360-degree projection and will also be a living museum because it will incorporate an Archaeological Research Center. Just over a year after its opening, the place has received more than a million visits.
– The Tren Maya hotel in Chichén Itzá (it is one of the 6 3 and 4 star hotels planned by the train project during its tour), was inaugurated in September 2024.
It has 160 rooms Master Room, Pool, A/C, Cafeteria area, Cable TV, Wifi, Gym, Bar Area, Boardroom, Souvenir Shop, Spa, Terrace in rooms and temazcal. And parking for 209 vehicles.
