Chichén Itzá Reigns as Top Paid Visitor Attraction in Mexico

Chichén Itzá, a world-renowned tourist destination in Mexico, leads the country in terms of visitors who pay for entry, according to data from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

Despite two museums in the capital city drawing the highest overall visitor numbers, Chichén Itzá stands out as the top site for paid admissions.

Chichén Itzá Joins Elite Group of Over One Million Visitors

Furthermore, Chichén Itzá is one of only five tourist destinations in Mexico attracting over one million visitors per year. This is a significant achievement considering that the INAH oversees 279 archaeological sites, museums, and monuments across all 32 states of the country. Only 1.8% of these sites surpass the one million visitor mark.

From January 1 to November 30, 2024, the top five visitor destinations were as follows:

1. National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico City), with 3,434,031 visitors.
2. National Museum of History (Mexico City), with 2,431,751 visitors.
3. Chichén Itzá archaeological site (Yucatán), with 2,018,184 visitors.
4. Teotihuacan archaeological site with Site Museum (State of Mexico), with 1,461,970 visitors.
5. Tulum archaeological site (Quintana Roo), with 1,114,572 visitors.

The INAH provides two types of reports for each of these 279 sites:

1. A general report: covering both foreign and national visitors.
2. A detailed report: breaking down foreign visitors into three categories (paid ticket, free admission, and temporary exhibitions with additional cost) and national visitors into ten categories.

Chichén Itzá Leads in Paid Admissions

When considering only paid admissions, Chichén Itzá emerges as the top tourist destination in Mexico. It is the only site that significantly surpasses the one million paid visitor mark.

For the period from January to November 2024, the top five destinations with the most paid visitors (both foreign and national) were:

1. Chichén Itzá, with 1,592,019 paid visitors, accounting for 78.8% of the total 2 million visitors.
2. Tulum, with 774,873 paid visitors (69.5% of total visitors).
3. National Museum of History, with 715,340 paid visitors (29.4%).
4. Teotihuacán, with 709,087 paid visitors (48.5%).
5. National Museum of Anthropology, with 627,367 paid visitors (18.2%), despite being the leader in total visitor numbers.

In Chichén Itzá, 79 out of every 100 visitors pay for entry; in Tulum, it's 69; in Teotihuacán, 48; in the History Museum, 29; and in the Archaeology Museum, only 18. The INAH reports that the majority of tourists at these sites are paying visitors.