Fashionable social media influencers invited to visit Yucatan to promote tourism were ejected from the archaeological zone of Uxmal for not following basic safety protocols, INAH said.
The National Institute of Anthropology and History said the Instagram and YouTube celebrities, whose millions of followers saw them cavorting amid the ruins, “flagrantly violated the established safety and hygiene protocols” during their visit to Uxmal. Yucatan’s tourism secretary Michelle Fridman Hirsch said they were not paid to visit and promote Yucatan.
Eight trendsetters came to Yucatan and filled their newsfeeds with color-saturated images. But in doing so, they disobeyed staff instructions to wear masks and stay socially distant from others, according to a local newspaper.
INAH staff at Uxmal led the influencers to the front gates and ordered them to leave, workers told Por Esto!
“These young people never had the attitude or the willingness to be in tune with the measures already established for the visit,” they emphasized.
In addition, they described them as “incapable” of assessing their attitudes and the “enormous damage” they can cause with their bad examples.
They reiterated that face masks are mandatory “before, during and after” entering archaeological sites throughout the country, maintaining a distance of at least a meter and a half between each visitor and constant hand washing or applying antibacterial gel.
“Needless to say, they must follow the instructions of the staff who work on the site, respect the signs, do not leave garbage in the place, do not go screaming wildly, much less threaten the staff who work there,” an unnamed custodial staffed added. “The behavior shown by these characters, as well as the bad precedent of their photos show us their inability to follow the rules.”
Likewise, they urged the authorities that organized the visit of the influencers to remember the application of sanitary measures at the federal level and the importance of safeguarding the nation’s heritage.
Uxmal reopened to the public Sept. 17, after almost six months of being closed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Despite the controversy over the visit, the influencers continued their tour of Yucatán on Sunday, visiting Valladolid and Izamal, before ending the trip.
Source: Por Esto!
