Mexican ‘influencers’ kicked out of Mayan ruins

MEXICO CITY — Archeological authorities in Mexico said Tuesday they kicked cast members of a popular local Jersey Shorestyle reality show out of the Mayan ruins of Uxmal after they behaved “immaturely” and refused to wear masks or follow social-distancing rules.

It was the latest round of bad promotional work in Mexico’s desperate attempt to revive its tourism industry, which has been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic.

It seems the young, ripped cast members of Mexico’s popular Acapulco Shore reality show — whom the state government of Yucatan described as “influencers” — were invited to tour the ruins soon after they were reopened in a bid to encourage tourists to return.

But the National Institute of Anthropology and History said the half-dozen cast members “were asked to leave, in compliance with health rules.”

Employees at the 1,000-yearold complex of Mayan temples, palaces and pyramid platforms said the cast acted “immaturely” and refused to follow posted rules requiring face masks and social distancing. Photos posted on social media showed them clowning around and posing in close contact atop one ancient structure.

Yucatan officials denied they paid the cast members, but acknowledged the visit was part of a promotional campaign.

The Uxmal dispute was just the latest chapter in a bad year for Mexican tourism promotion.

In August, due to disputes over payments and control of the English-language version of the country’s tourism website, its internet page appeared with hilarious mistranslations.

On the VisitMexico.com site, states such as Hidalgo and Guerrero apparently got machine-translated as “Noble” and “Warrior.” The Caribbean resort of Tulum somehow became “Jumpsuit.” And the names of other tourist towns were also mangled.

Mexico’s Tourism Department issued a statement apologizing for the apparently out-sourced errors and later launched a redesigned page.

The snafu came right after the U.S. State Department cited the high number of COVID-19 cases in Mexico for issuing a “do not travel” advisory for the country in August, its highest level of warning.

And earlier, the resort of Acapulco was forced to pull “anything goes” tourism ads that showed people partying without masks and the words “there are no rules.”