Cobá Archaeological Zone Fails to Benefit from Tulum’s Closure
Despite the closure of the Tulum archaeological site, the Cobá ruins have not experienced the expected increase in visitors, according to tour service providers.
The Tulum Mayan monument site will remain closed from Monday, May 15th, until May 22nd for renovation works conducted by the Secretariat of Agrarian, Territorial, and Urban Development (Sedatu).
Atilano Uicab Nájera, former secretary of the local guides, explained that there was a slight increase in the influx of visitors, but it was minimal, resulting in only a 30 to 40 percent rise in their service bookings.
He expressed that with the announcement of the closure of the walled city of Tulum, they had expected agencies to attract more visitors to the Cobá monument site. However, the reality has been quite similar to before.
The interviewee mentioned that the daily influx inside the pyramids ranges between 700 and 800 visitors, but during these days, it may have reached nearly a thousand people per day.
The local guide stated that the Tulum ruins will reopen next week, and it is possible that the upcoming weekend will see an increase in the arrival of both national and foreign tourists. Based on that, the hiring of their services to tour and provide information about the monument’s history may improve.
He also expressed that their operations are independent of whether the archaeological site is open or not, despite some travel agencies connecting the itinerary from Tulum, passing through Cobá, and reaching Chichén Itzá.
Cobá deals with the lack of closure.
He recalled that since December 2021, they have been struggling with the supposed closure of the Cobá archaeological site, as announced by the National Institute of Anthropology and History. This has caused difficulties for those who rely on the arrival of visitors to this archaeological site.
He affirmed that there is still information circulating that the ruins are also undergoing renovation, but in reality, they are operating and receiving tourists.
