At the top of our newscast we told you about what local operators see as the preferential treatment afforded to Bradley Paumen's Dark Night tours by NICH. And why not? We know that NICH still has a secret contract with Paumen, and that Government acquired not one but two pirvate pieces of land for his tour company to use. When we visited the Nohoch Che'en caves branch Archeological reserve today we met one tour operator who illustrated his disadvantage. He's been operating at the reserve for the past 5 years. Now with the recent lowering tour prices by the large foreign competitors, it is more difficult to break that profit margin. It is all the more difficult when most of his profits go towards renting equipment at the site. So he wants to bring his own equipment to cut costs while giving himself a competitive edge. But the authorities at NICH, he says, are not helping him out.
David Andrews, Tour Operator
"I have problems with the equipment that I rent. They are either stink. My guest don't want to put on the vest because they are stink. The equipment lights are dull. So I wanted to bring in my own equipment and so I needed a stall. So far none of them wanted to assist me with that. So that's why I wanted to talk to the media a long time ago, so that the country could see that NICH have no intention of building up tourism. It's only their interest. It's not the interest of building the quality of tourism with equipment and standards for the tour operators that bring in business to this country."
Emanuel Pech
"What did they tell you? Is there space available?"
David Andrews, Tour Operator
"I've talk to one of the smaller guys at NICH and he told me don't say anything, but there is room there and I see it and I've talk to other people that rented the spot and they have two vacant spots. But so far nothing have been done. They don't want to build anymore. It just sits there - doing nothing. They told me they were going to give me after the 4th November. They were waiting for after the elections on the 4th November. They told me they were going to give me the spot Christmas and right now we are on 19th January and nothing so far."
Emanuel Pech
"And you have the money, the equipment."
David Andrews, Tour Operator
"I have the money to pay it. Actually I got so frustrated I started to give away my equipment because I have nowhere to store them. I told them that I have all my equipment to conduct my tour and so far they don't want to give me any spot here at the Nohoch Che'en."
Cave tubing equipment- helmets, tubes, and the like- costs $10 dollars per head. An operation cost that is heavy on the shoulders of local tour operators who have to deal with the lowering of tour prices as a result competition from foreign investors.
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