Mexico turns doomsday into a payday
Only a year is left before Dec. 21, 2012, when some believe the Maya predicted the end of the world.
While some doomsday theorists may suggest putting together a survival kit, people in southeastern Mexico, the heart of Mayan territory, plan to throw a year-long celebration - and to make a profit while they party.
Mexico’s tourism agency expects to draw 52 million visitors over the coming year to the five states richest in Mayan heritage. This past year, Mexico as a whole was expected to lure just 22 million foreigners.
It is selling the date, the winter solstice, as a time of renewal. Most Mexican archaeological authorities say that the 2012 reference on a 1,300-year-old stone tablet marks only the end of a cycle in the Mayan calendar, not an apocalypse.
“The world will not end. It is an era,” said Yeanet Zaldo, a tourism spokeswoman for the Caribbean state of Quintana Roo, home to Cancun. “For us, it is a message of hope.”
Cities and towns in the Mayan region are starting the year-long countdown on Wednesday. The city of Tapachula on the Guatemalan border will start a 2.5-metre digital clock in its main park to begin the countdown exactly a year before the date.
At the nearby archaeological site of Izapa, Mayan priests will burn incense, chant and offer prayers.
On Mexico’s Caribbean coast, between the resorts of Cancun and Playa del Carmen, people are putting messages and photos in a time capsule that will be buried for 50 years. Mayan priests and Indian dancers will perform a ritual at the time capsule ceremony.
“People who still live in Mayan villages will host rites and burn incense for us to go back in time and try to understand the Mayan wisdom,” Ms. Zaldo said.
Yucatan state has announced plans to complete the Maya Museum of Merida by next summer.
President Felipe Calderon recently announced there will be about 500 Mayan-themed events throughout the year in southern Mexico, including workshops and dance and music festivals.
Officials are building a state-run tourist hotel at the natural reserve of Calakmul in the state of Campeche. And the National Institute of Anthropology and History is opening three additional ruins to tourists.
Some theorists have found evidence of a 2012 apocalypse in the Bible, the prophesies of Nostradamus or in the alignment of celestial bodies, and official assurances that the world is likely to continue have not convinced everyone.
An article on the website “survivalguide2012” advises readers that in addition to stocking up on emergency supplies, they might consider heading to mountains on Dec. 21, perhaps those in Alaska or Bolivia.
“Regardless whether the threat of December 21, 2012, is real or not, there is no harm in being prepared” said the author, writing under the name Yang Muffins.
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