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Cashing in on the 'end of the world' tourism
FoxNews.com ^ | January 30, 2012 | Blane Bachelor

Posted on 01/30/2012 11:55:52 AM PST by Hunton Peck

For doomsday theorists, Dec. 21, 2012 could mean the end of civilization, according to some interpretations of the Mayan calendar. But for some tour operators and property owners, the end of the world also means a chance to cash in on the apocalypse hype.

In the most prominent countries of the Mundo Maya – Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and parts of Honduras and El Salvador – the tourism industry is gearing up for a record year, with dozens of Maya-themed offerings designed to lure visitors.

The Guatemalan city of Tapachula will feature an 8-foot digital count-down clock in its main park, Mexico's Riviera Maya are planning reenactments of a popular Mayan ball game and the Sacred Mayan Journey, in which hundreds of paddlers travel in canoes to the island of Cozumel to pay homage to the goddess Ixchel. In all countries, there will be special solstice and equinox ceremonies, Mayan-themed workshops and music festivals.

Celebrities have also gotten in on the action: Paul McCartney is scheduled to perform this spring at Chichén Ixtá, an official World Wonder of spectacular Mayan ruins in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. McCartney’s concert at the historic site, which Yucatán governor Ivonne Ortega Pacheco confirmed on her Twitter account, could be part of the singer’s farewell tour.

As 2012 rolls ahead, hotels, tour companies and other travel vendors have rolled out all sorts of Maya-themed packages and itineraries, which vary from authentic to outrageous.

If you're thinking about the using this auspicious time to get married you can join the "Mayan Marriage of Many" and tie the knot with 35 other luck couples on an actual Mayan ruin in Belize. The ceremony takes place on Dec.12, with plenty of time to prepare for the end of the world as a married couple, before you're whisked to a tropical...

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Travel; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: doomedagain; mayancalendar; partylikeits12202012; partytilyoudie
Too bad "I'm gonna party like it's December 20, 2012" doesn't make for a good song lyric.
1 posted on 01/30/2012 11:56:03 AM PST by Hunton Peck
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To: Hunton Peck

One sure fire way to know if the Mayans are right: I’ll win the lottery the day before.


2 posted on 01/30/2012 11:57:48 AM PST by GreenHornet
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To: GreenHornet

Be sure to post to FR if you do, OK? That’s one vanity I’ll read.


3 posted on 01/30/2012 11:59:31 AM PST by Hunton Peck (See my FR homepage for a list of businesses that support WI Gov. Scott Walker)
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To: Hunton Peck
Paul McCartney is scheduled to perform this spring at Chichén Ixtá

Even though, as we all know, Sir Paul is no spring chichén.

4 posted on 01/30/2012 12:02:06 PM PST by Hunton Peck (See my FR homepage for a list of businesses that support WI Gov. Scott Walker)
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To: Hunton Peck
"The Guatemalan city of Tapachula will feature an 8-foot digital count-down clock in its main park"

Maybe it's just me, but I find the combination incredibly tacky. On the good side, at least the clock is energy efficient, using LEDs, so it won't harm the environment before the world ends.

5 posted on 01/30/2012 12:03:26 PM PST by Pollster1 (Natural born citizen of the USA, with the birth certificate to prove it)
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To: Hunton Peck
planning reenactments of a popular Mayan ball game

I would pay to see that if it's authentic. Losers get sacrificed.

6 posted on 01/30/2012 12:04:54 PM PST by AU72
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To: AU72
planning reenactments of a popular Mayan ball game

Would that be Ball in a Cup?

7 posted on 01/30/2012 12:18:14 PM PST by Maceman (Obama: As American as nasei goreng)
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To: Hunton Peck

Who cares what the myans think... they are extinct...


8 posted on 01/30/2012 12:28:37 PM PST by joe fonebone (Project Gunwalker, this will make watergate look like the warm up band......)
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To: AU72
I would pay to see that if it's authentic. Losers get sacrificed.

Don't laugh . . . frequently the captain of the winning team considered it an honor to be disemboweled to go to the gods. Didn't have to be the loser.

9 posted on 01/30/2012 12:28:37 PM PST by laweeks
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To: Hunton Peck

Hey I am going to actually have a party that day. Just for the hell of it. If anything happens we’ll all be smashed if nothing happens we will all be having a great time. Lose Win situation. Cheers.


10 posted on 01/30/2012 12:52:02 PM PST by crazydad
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To: Maceman

Better then Two Girls and A Cup. EWWWWWWWW!


11 posted on 01/30/2012 12:53:20 PM PST by crazydad
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To: Hunton Peck

I once visited Tel Meggido, otherwise known as Armageddon.

I could just imagine the final battle taking place on that ground.

But it didn’t happen while I was there.
}:-)


12 posted on 01/30/2012 12:55:55 PM PST by left that other site
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To: Hunton Peck

“Oohh, Aahh, that’s how all of this starts, but then later there’s the running and screaming”


13 posted on 01/30/2012 1:13:48 PM PST by Leroy S. Mort
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To: Hunton Peck
Some days I think 25% of adults are literally insane.
Other days I think it's closer to 50%

Today is a 50% day...

14 posted on 01/30/2012 1:19:03 PM PST by Publius6961 (My world was lovely, until it was taken over by parasites.)
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To: Hunton Peck

You know there’s going to be doing a Heaven’s Gate Deux.


15 posted on 01/30/2012 1:45:50 PM PST by bgill (The Obama administration is staging a coup. Wake up, America, before it's too late.)
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