Gay Nagle Myers
For destinations seeking to attract history-minded visitors, it’s an enviable problem. Mexico’s 32 Unesco World Heritage sites and cities — the most in the Americas — present a difficult choice for visitors: Where to go, which ones to see, how to choose?
“Mexico has a cultural treasure that it is obligated to share,” said Minister of Tourism Claudia Ruiz Massieu at the 7th World Congress of the Organization of World Heritage Cities.
The event was held recently in Oaxaca, one of the country’s nine World Heritage cities, along with Campeche, Guanajuato, Mexico City, Morelia, Puebla, Santiago de Queretaro, Zacatecas and Tlacotalpan.
The minister pointed out Mexico has a firm commitment to its cultural treasure and a responsibility to preserve them and share them with the world.
The Heritage sites also include ancient ruins at Teotihuacan, Palenque and Monte Alban and the more well-known ruins at Chichen Itza and Tulum as well as the desert landscapes in Sonora and Tequila.
Tourism officials hope to have more of Mexico’s cities recognized as World Heritage sites, according to Ruiz Massieu.
For now, the country offers a cultural bounty for visitors that seems endless, or at the very least is geared to repeat visits.