Archeological Park Fees to increase next year
It’s not coming on line this year, but the Institute of Archaeology has announced an imminent increase in entrance fees to fourteen reserves. Prices at all the sites will be doubled, but according to the National Institute of Culture and History, they will remain the lowest in the region. So if you’re planning a visit, you still have to take advantage of the current prices. On June first 2011, the entrance fee at Nim Li Punit, Lubaantun, Serpon, El Pilar and Cerro Maya will be ten dollars for locals and twenty for visitors. At Caracol the fee goes up to fifteen dollars for Belizeans and thirty for visitors while at Barton Creek it will be twenty for all patrons. The most pricy is Actun Tunichil Muknal, where both locals and non-locals will pay fifty dollars to visit. There are more increases to come in October 2011 when the entrance to popular sites such as Cahal Pech, Xunantunich, Altun Ha and Lamanai will be raised to ten dollars for residents and twenty dollars for non-residents. At No Hoch Che’en, the fee will be twenty dollars across the board. Entrance to Santa Rita remains free. The purpose of the increases is to maintain standards at the sites and enhance the infrastructure.
well, well, seems that some people are getting greedy with money. How can NICH promote local tourism when your are literaly emptied from your pocket. For example, in Costa Rica one of the most expensive places to visit in regards to parks entrance fees; international tourists pay 12 US dollars while local costa ricans pay only 2 US dollars, and this if for all day of the year and not only sundays.
why want to make yourself rich with your own people
the maintenance of these sites is actually not that cheap, not to mention to repair damages left my the tourists themselves, so an increase will help to preserve these sites
These Archeological sites should be protected and preserved and that cost money, I think the new price is not that much for tourists, and they will still pay the price for entry. For the Belizeans who are interested in seeing the sites please take this opportunity to contribute to your country by visiting the sites while the price is still affordable.
Think Sundays are still free if you show your voters ID or Social Security card.
I remember the days when you visit these places free of charge. I believe that charging a fee is fine but the government must remember that the local people that would like to take their families and children to this sites will be very burdenson, simply putting it, locals do not have this kind of money. You have a family of five at ten bucks….thants $100.00, auch…this is terrible. Maybe they should reconsider this and charge locals… $2.00. Thank you. Or maybe they should alocate some of the millions of dollars the country makes of tourism and apply to this and don’t charge the locals…
this is crazy, with the little amount we earn we don’t even have extra pocket money to visit these places that our national archeological places in the jewel, worse with this extra charge implemented for next yr, wonder how you fools think of us, the poor belizeans.
The government is just crippling a already staggering tourism industry and making it less and less affordable for Belizeans to enjoy our natural and God given heritage. I agree that sites are expensive to manage but if GOB would spend the monies of the parks more wisely then there would not be a need for a increase in prices. Stop using the PACT funds to assist political projects, or to paint a football field or to collect garbage for a town or village council. Those finances are for the development and maintenance of our protected areas.