Cultur recognizes 42 employees who completed between 10 and 30 years of service in the unit

Merida, Yucatan, September 27, 2023. Our colleague Nancy Cab Cobá, who works as a caretaker at the Chichén Itzá rest stop, found an iPhone in the bathrooms and, as she always does, handed it over to the administrative offices. 

Later, Sonia Salazar Cavazos, who visited us from Mexico City, claimed to be the owner of the device. After identification and verification, it was returned to her. Director General Mauricio Díaz Montalvo expresses gratitude to the worker for this act of honesty that continues to inspire confidence in our visiting tourists. 

Thank you, Nancy!"

Mérida, Yucatán, September 11, 2023. Cultur initiated the respective process to obtain from the Health Services of Yucatan (SSY) the recognition as "Space 100% Free of Tobacco Smoke and Emissions" of the parador that operates in El Corchito.

This will be the fourth distinction obtained by the agency directed by Mauricio Díaz Montalvo as a contribution to health and the environment. It should be remembered that the Yucatan Siglo XXI Convention and Exhibition Center, the tourist inn of Chichén Itzá and the Meteorite Museum, in Progreso, already have them.

The process, as already reported, began with an awareness talk, which was in charge of Shanny Cámara Canto, state responsible for the aforementioned SSY program, and which aims to raise awareness about the harmful effects caused by traditional and electronic cigarettes, or any other emitter of vapors that may affect their own health and that of third parties.

The idea is that, once the building is declared 100% Smoke-Free and Emission-Free, workers will become vigilantes to urge people caught smoking or vaping not to do so.

As Díaz Montalvo has pointed out, the idea is to continue advancing in the service units that are under his responsibility with these actions to give tourism spaces added value and more security for health.

During the talk with the workers of El Corchito, the representative of the SSY emphasized that there is a false belief that it is good to opt for electronic cigarettes to leave conventional ones, which is wrong, since both are equally harmful.

He added that several studies have reported that electronic cigarettes or vapes have significant levels of metals, such as cadmium, nickel, copper, tin, lead and aluminum; also carbonyl compounds, such as formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acrolein, as well as volatile organic compounds.

The next steps

To continue with this process, soon, Cultur will install several signs at strategic points of the parador where it is indicated that El Corchito is a 100% Free Space of Tobacco Smoke and Emissions and they are prevented from avoiding smoking or vaping.

Then the Fourth Colillatón will be carried out, which will consist of cleaning all buildings and their surroundings of cigarette butts and finally, after a visit by the health authorities to confirm that everything is in order, recognition will be granted.

Cigarette butts with a healthy ending: One more work of art

It should be remembered that the cigarette butts that are collected will have a healthy end: they will be decontaminated and with them a work of art will be made that consists of a painting of the parador and the reserve.

Mérida, Yucatán, September 4, 2023. Today, in the parador of Chichén Itzá, a new case of honesty was registered, since our colleague Blanca Natali Kinil Cemé, who works in the quartermaster area, found an iPhone in the bathrooms of the site, and later returned Elizabeth González, who visited us from Argentina.

Mérida, Yucatán, September 4, 2023. During the summer vacation period that spanned from July 27 to August 28, as expected, Chichen Itza ranked first in the "top 5" of the most visited sites by receiving 244,176 tourists.

This figure represents 58% of the total of 423,918 visitors served in all the paradores managed by Cultur.

According to the corresponding information, compared to the summer holiday period last year, which was from July 29 to August 28, when the income of 239,962 was reported, this wonder of the contemporary world had an increase of 2%.

In the aforementioned holiday period, in second place was the "Picheta" Passage that reported an influx of 41,398, which compared to what was registered in 2022 -31,525-, had a rebound of 31%.

The third most visited site was Uxmal with 34,902 tourists, a figure that represented an increase of 7% compared to 2022 when the figure was 32,641.

The fourth place with the highest influx was for the Zací Handicraft Market with 17,760 registrations, against 21,026 in the 2022 period.

Although El Corchito ranked fifth in this rangking with 17,725 visitors, it was the one that registered the highest percentage increase, of 43%, compared to what was reported in 2022, which was 12,371 tourists.

Among all the other service units, among which are Dzibilchaltún, Celestún, Ek Balam, Halachó, Chocholá, Casa Manzanero and Museo del Meteorito, the total influx was 67,957, which represented an increase of |13% in relation to 2022, when the capacity was 60,208.

It should be remembered that, for various reasons, some paradores such as those of Uaymitún, Lol Tún and Balankanché, did not report influxes because they remain closed to the public.

Kukulkan Nights

Finally, regarding the show "Noches de Kukulkán", in Chichen, it had an increase of 40 percentage points from 1,449 users in 2022 to 2032 users in the holiday period of 2023.

Mérida, Yucatán, August 30, 2023. The Meteorite Museum, managed by Cultur, received today from the Directorate of Protection against Health Risks, of the Health Services of Yucatan (SSY), the recognition as "Space 100% Free of Tobacco Smoke and Emissions".

As we have reported, this is the third distinction obtained by Cultur, since it achieved it for the Yucatan Siglo XXI Convention Center and the Chichén Itzá Parador.

In a simple event that took place in the Dzibilchaltún Hall of the XXI Century, Mr. Jaime Victoria Palma, director of Protection against Sanitary Risks, delivered the corresponding document to the general director of Cultur, Mauricio Díaz Montalvo.

During the formal event, Victoria Palma commented that talking about smoking and its effects always implies referring to serious health statistics, since science and all modern medicine have shown us that "smoking kills".

He added that currently in the world there are 300 million people who smoke and about 8 million die every year, caused by diseases related to the consumption or passive inhalation of tobacco smoke and other emissions.

That is why, he added, today we are very happy here, because Cultur is promoting the promotion of health through concrete actions so that the buildings it manages are healthier public spaces.

Díaz Montalvo thanked the staff of the Meteorite Museum for the effort they made to obtain the aforementioned distinction for the benefit of the people who work there and the tourists who come to that tourist space.

"I think we are all clear that we are responsible for ensuring that our recognized buildings remain so, free of tobacco smoke and emissions, and if necessary, report it to the guards or the appropriate authorities when we see that someone is violating the rules," he said.

The process

To achieve this recognition, at least 80% of the Museum's employees received a talk-training on the damage caused to health by any type of emission and how to act to avoid it in public space, and the collection of cigarette butts ("Colillatón") was carried out, to clean the environment of these polluting effects.

Three "colillatones": 21,775 cigarette butts collected

During the event it was recalled that so far Cultur has made three "colillatones" as part of the process to obtain recognition. In the XXI Century he collected 12,900 wastes, in the Parador of Chichén Itzá 5,125 and in more recently in the Metorito Museum, in Progreso, 3,750. In total there are 21,775 cigarette butts.

The parador that follows...

Cultur will continue with this policy in favor of healthy environments, so that the next parador where it will begin the process to convert it into a Space 100% Free of Tobacco Smoke and emissions will be El Corchito.

Mérida, Yucatán, August 24, 2023. Again, our colleague, Maria Luz Alba Pech Dzul, who collaborates as mayor in the parador of Chichén Itzá, showed a gesture of honesty, since, when she worked in the bathrooms of the aforementioned site, she realized that someone left forgotten, neither more nor less than an Iphone cell phone.

As has happened in all cases, the worker placed him at the disposal of the administrative offices of Cultur, where he remained in shelter while the owner appeared.

Soon, the owner, who could only be identified as Laura S., from the interior of the country, came to ask if they had seen her cell phone and to her surprise, it was returned, with no further formalities than confirmation that she was the legitimate owner.

We are very pleased that these cases of honesty continue to occur that put Yucatan very high before the tourism of the World, Mexico and Yucatan. Congratulations!