The mystery story of the Maya slowly reveals new twists

From a story by Dan Vergano in USA Today:

Don't tell Indiana Jones, but most archaeologists pack spades, not bullwhips, and big discoveries usually come after lots of digging, not looting. Maya discoveries in Mexico that are rewriting the history of this classic civilization, for example, are coming from years of careful digging, not looted idols.

The classic Maya were part of a Central American civilization best known for stepped pyramids, beautiful carvings and murals and the widespread abandonment of cities around 900 A.D. in southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and El Salvador, leaving the Maya only the northern lowlands of the Yucatan peninsula. The conventional wisdom of this upheaval is that many Maya moved north at the time of this collapse, also colonizing the hilly "Puuc" region of the Yucatan for a short while, until those new cities collapsed as well.

But that story of the Maya is wrong, suggests archaeologist George Bey of Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., who is co-leading an investigation of the abandoned city of Kiuic with Mexican archaeologist Tomas Gallareta of Mexico's National Institute of Archaeology and History. "Our work indicates that instead the Puuc region was occupied for almost 2,000 years before the collapse in the south," says Bey, by e-mail.

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Advice for destination operators

From a column by Colette Chandler posted on Green Lodging News:

Use of the term “sustainable” has been increasing in the business world, especially in tourism. By definition, “to sustain” means to give support or relief. “Sustainable” businesses function to maintain or improve the present and future quality of people’s lives. Companies continue to realize that consumers are spending their money consciously, considering more than just the material goods they take home from the store.

Consumers are beginning to realize that when they support sustainable businesses, their dollars can impact social and environmental concerns. This group of influential and leading-edge thinkers, representing LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability), seeks out companies that share their health, social and environmental interests and priorities. . . .

This . . . marketplace is expected to grow to $425 billion in three years and $845 billion by 2015, according to research conducted by the Natural Marketing Institute. . . .

To get and stay ahead as a travel facility, it is important that you recognize the true influencers of the green and health trends. The sooner you acknowledge them and connect your values with theirs, the sooner you’ll succeed in capturing them as your customers. . . .

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Is travel ever green?

A discussion on Minnesota (USA) Public Radio between two travel experts:

Martha Honey, Co-director of the Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development and author of "Ecotourism and Sustainable Development: Who Owns Paradise?"

Joe McInerny: CEO of American Hotel and Lodging Association

Tourists are increasingly seeking vacations that support local cultures and the environment. Now this new style of ecotourism is struggling to define itself.

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As sea turtles disappear, scientists ponder climate change

From an article by Louis E.V. Nevaer on New America Media:

MERIDA, Mexico – The Yucatan Peninsula, home to the largest hawksbill nesting population in the Atlantic, is witnessing a dramatic drop in the nesting population of the hawksbill sea turtle, one of the rarest marine turtles in the world. For more than a month now hundreds of female hawksbill turtles have been arriving to lay their eggs in thousands of nests around the thumb-shaped peninsula. But for unknown reasons, only about one-third of the nests will be laid by the endangered sea creature this year compared to the numbers a decade ago.

Almost two decades of conservation efforts – which began in earnest in 1989 after Hurricane Gilbert, the strongest hurricane on record in the area – are now confronting a series of puzzling challenges that suggest the emergence of global warming as a principal factor in declining sea turtle populations.

“After 1999, nesting populations of the hawksbill turtle plummeted dramatically,” Wally Cuevas, a scientist at Pronatura, the largest conservation organization in the Yucatan, explained. “From a high of almost 6,000 hawksbill nests that year, we are now down to just over 2,000 nests.”

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Destination spotlight: Ría de Clestún

From an article on EcoturismoLatino:

Ría de Clestún is located at 90 Km. (56 miles) west of Merida, Yucatan (route 281) and/or 216 Km. (134 miles) to the north of Campeche, Campeche (route 180) towards the western tip of the Yucatan Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico.

On July 19th, 1979, the Federal Government decreed the Celestun Wildlife Refuge. Because of its importance as the main feeding area for the American Flamingo and countless species of waterfowl and shorebirds, its status was upgraded to that of a Special Biosphere Reserve in 1989.

Celestun means "painted stone". It is a picturesque coastal traffic port, with a revolving reflector lighthouse, 12 meters (39 feet) high, signaling 4 intermittent flashes. Its inhabitants, about 4,600, still preserve the traditions and folklore of the Mayan fisher folk.

Main wintering area for greater flamingos, nesting beaches for endangered sea turtles, endemic plants and birds in coastal dune scrubs; estuary "nurseries" for countless fish and marine species; highly productive mangrove communities; two endangered crocodile species; migrant and wintering waterbirds, shorebirds and songbirds.

Over 300 bird species can be found in Celestun's Special Biosphere Reserve. There are some endemic birds such as the Yucatan wren, the black-throated bobwhite and the Mexican sheartail hummingbird. But surely the most popular bird and the most sought after is the Pink Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber ruber).

From the 8 species surviving in the world, 7 exist in Mexico and 4 nest in the coasts of the Yucatan Peninsula: Green turtle (Chelonia mydas mydas), loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) and leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea).

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Discount fliers: Your days are numbered

Though arrivals to Cancun increased in May, the unfolding and permanent end of cheap oil will reshape tourism, with significant economic impacts as fewer travelers visit destinations in the Yucatán and the rest of the world:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- As the battered airlines cut flights to save on fuel-related costs, passengers can bid bon voyage to discount flights to sunny vacation destinations like Florida, experts say. . . .

"Leisure markets, particularly Florida and other family-oriented destinations, will feel the pain due to the price sensitivity of the typical consumer," said Joe Schwieterman, a transportation expert at DePaul University in Chicago.

Analysts said that other discount destinations, such as Las Vegas, Cancun and Honolulu, could become the next casualties of the dramatic increases in jet fuel prices.

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Operator Spotlight: Mesoamerican Ecotourism Alliance

From the Mesoamerican Ecotourism Alliance:

The Mesoamerican Ecotourism Alliance is composed of 20 local organizations committed to the development and promotion of sustainable tourism as a means for supporting conservation efforts in Mesoamerican (Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Southern Mexico and Nicaragua).

The Alliance will sponsor Quinta Conferencia Mesoamericana de Turismo Sostenible,3 al 5 de diciembre, 2008, Granada, Nicaragua, Hotel Granada.

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Building materials sourcebook

A list of suppliers from the sourcebook of products used by Maho Bay eco-resorts in the U.S. Virgin Islands. On the sourcebook Web site, each entry hyperlinks to the company's Web page:

The following is a list of manufacturers and distributors of recycled building materials that are used at Maho Bay Campground, Harmony Studios, Concordia Eco-Tents and Estate Concordia Studios. The list begins with an index of manufacturers and products. Click on the product for more information. Where possible, there will be an additional link to the manufacturer or supplier's home page. You can also use our Site-Wide Search Engine to search by keyword(s).

Sun Oven - Global Model
Softpave Tiles
ACQ Preserve Pressure-Treated Lumber
Superwhite Vinyl
Low-E Insulation
Southern Slate
New World Cotton
Easy-Ply Roof Decking
4-way Floor Decking
Hardi-Plank Siding
Pro-Tec Fabric
Fiberbond Gypsum Wallboard Panels & Dri-Mix Joint Compound
Recycled Nails
Quarry Tiles
Foxfibre
Ever-Strait Fiberglass Doors
Windows and Patio Doors
Electrical Generation System
Wastewater Treatment Plant
Solar Panels (SP75 Module)
Hotel Beautyrest Mattresses & Boxsprings
Craftsman Tile
L-16 Lead-Acid Batteries
Refrigerators
Trace 2624SB Inverter
Trex Composite Lumber (formerly Timbrex)
Parallam® and TJI® Joists
No-Flush Urinal

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Nominations sought for government ecotourism Web sites

From Planeta.com:

Government websites that spotlight ecotourism and responsible travel are eligible to win Planeta.com's 2008 Ecotourism Spotlight Award.

Nominations are accepted February 15-July 1, 2008. Nominees include environmental, tourism and other government portals in three categories: local, national and international institutions. . . .

This award allows us to highlight best practices and hopefully show other managers of government websites how to showcase operations striving toward sustainability and ecotourism.

Details http://www.planeta.com/planeta/08/0802spotlightaward.html

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Mérida on Sundays

From cancun.com:

From early Sunday morning to dawn the next day, all the streets around Main Square remain closed to cars so that pedestrians, cyclists and carriages can move about easily. This is the traditional ''Merida on Sundays''. It is a festival with many stands for food, handcrafts and books. The parks become gathering places for artists, painters, photographers and sculptors, whose work is displayed and put on sale. You can see skillful artists drawing interested passersby, whose faces are portrayed in funny caricatures.

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Airport operator reports 13.2% increase in passenger traffic in May

From a news release posted on Yahoo! Finance:

MEXICO CITY, June 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: ASR; BMV: ASUR) (ASUR), today announced that total passenger traffic for May 2008 increased by 13.2% when compared to May 2007. . . .

International passenger traffic in Cancun increased 16.1% and domestic increased 15.0%. In Cozumel, international traffic increased 20.2% and 49.2% for domestic travel.

By contrast, international passenger traffic in Mérida declined by 5.9%, but domestic traffic increased 15.2%.

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. (ASUR) is a Mexican airport operator with concessions to operate, maintain and develop the airports of Cancun, Merida, Cozumel, Villahermosa, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Huatulco, Tapachula and Minatitlan in the southeast of Mexico. The Company is listed both on the Mexican Bolsa, where it trades under the symbol ASUR, and on the NYSE in the U.S., where it trades under the symbol ASR. One ADS represents ten (10) series B shares.

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Operator spotlight: Bike the Yucatán

From the Web site of ¡El Tour!

!El Tour offers no-frills guided, self supported bike tours of the Pacific coast, the western Sierra Madre mountains, the Yucatan peninsula, and the southern states of Chiapas, Tabasco and Oaxaca.

Eating and sleeping where the locals do, we go from inn-to-inn and sometimes have the option of camping on the beach or in the mountains. Our small group bicycle tours are limited to 8 to 10 cyclists, plus your 2 friendly, fun and knowledgeable tour guides.

Guided Mexico bike Tours last for 1, 2, 3 weeks or longer, run between October and March (and sometimes in July too) and range in difficulty from light to regular to challenge.

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