Mexico to Welcome Millions of Visitors for 2012 Solstice

FILE - This June 1, 2007 file photo shows a Mayan statue stands in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, where people will gather before making their way across the Yucatan Channel, to the Cozumel Island, in a ten mile pilgrimage in honor of the Mayan goddess Ixchel. Only a year is left before Dec. 21, 2012, when some believe the Maya predicted the end of the world. While some doomsday theorists may suggest putting together survival kits, people in southeastern Mexico, the heart of Maya territory, plan to throw a yearlong celebration. And to make a profit while they party.(AP Photo/Israel Leal) (AP)

Mexico expects millions of tourists to visit the country for 2012 solstice.

Tourism officials said Thursday that 2012 will be a special year for Mexico, even though they don't expect the world to end Dec. 21.

The Tourism Department says it will spend $8 million promoting tourism to the "Mayan World," the southeast Mexico region where the Mayan culture thrived. The area extends into Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

Doomsday prognosticators' belief that the Maya predicted the end of the world for December 2012 has brought attention to one of Mexico's great cultures. Officials reject the prediction but hope the attention will draw tourists.

Tourism Secretary Gloria Guevara expects 52 million tourists over the 1½ years of the plan. That would be 12 million more than usual, and could bring as much as $14.6 billion in extra tourism revenue.

Authorities issued a suggested itinerary for visitors that includes Comalcalco, an archaeological site where one of the few engraved Mayan references to 2012 has been found.

The Mayan civilization, which reached its height from A.D. 300 to 900, had a talent for astronomy.

Its Long Count calendar begins in 3114 B.C., marking time in roughly 394-year periods known as Baktuns. Thirteen was a significant, sacred number for the Mayas, and the 13th Baktun ends on Dec. 21, 2012.

Experts say the date was considered significant for the Maya, but doesn't imply an apocalypse. Rather it is the beginning of another calendar cycle, they say.

This article is based on the Associated Press.