And while the BRITE graduates had much to be hopeful about, one group that's watching them very closely is the vendors association at Altun Ha. The vendors count on the guides to bring visitors to their stalls after a tour of the site and they hope these new rural guides will be especially mindful of their country-folk. But that's not the way it always works out and the vendors say that increasingly they are being bypassed by the guides who are always in too much of a rush to let the vendors get a bite. Now, they say business has dropped 50% in the past year and they say they need to do something to set things right.
Calvin Gilharry, Altun Ha Vendor
"We have a bad time with the tour guides because they come and take a long time back there and after that its straight into the bus, we don't make any money and that is really bad. We want a little bit more time for the tourists to stay right here so we can sell our arts."
Allan Jones, Altun Ha Vendor
"A lot of people aren't that happy with cruise tourism and if they are going to come to our Altun Ha and we aren't going to make the money that we need for our livelihood then that's very unfortunate. We are a part of this show, we are villagers from this village, Altun Ha belongs to us, we live here."
Jules Vasquez,
Some people might say life is hard for everybody and nothing is assured for anyone, you have to try and make it.
Allan Jones,
"We have no problem with that, we are not unrealistic, and we are aware, for example, that they have the river tours that are a lot more precise with the time that they have for the tour. But if the tour guides were more understanding, be patient, and just guide the tourists and tell them we have beautiful handicraft and check it out. There is no charge to look at it so give them 15 minutes; in a 4 or 5 hour tour what is 15 minutes?"
The vendors say that a recently installed walkway which leads visitors away from the stalls is also contributing to the problem. Previously, when the main entrance was open all the visitors had to pass the vendors, now they can simply bypass them.
