Chile received more than one million foreign tourists between January and March 2023, in the middle of the summer season, which represented an increase of 413.9 percent compared to the same period last year, thanks to the end of the sanitary restrictions adopted due to the pandemic.
“The last summer season was very positive for national tourism,” Undersecretary of Tourism Veronica Pardo told Xinhua on Friday.
According to official data, the first quarter of the year saw the arrival of 1,137,020 foreign tourists, attracted by the diverse natural landscapes offered by the country, from the north with the arid Atacama Desert to lakes, rivers, and glaciers in the far south, as well as ocean and mountains.
During the entire year 2022, foreigners arriving in Chile totaled 2,036,103.
The volume of people visiting Chile this summer reflected the reactivation of that industry in the South American nation, 95 percent of which is made up of small and medium-sized companies, which had been hit for about three years.
“Tourism was one of the industries hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile and worldwide. Mobility restrictions caused inbound tourism to drop to near-zero levels for a prolonged period,” she explained about the impact on the sector.
Pardo assured that in mid-2020, the spread of the virus caused the loss of 43.3 percent of tourism-related jobs due to border closures and mobility limitations, which mainly affected gastronomy, hotels and the demand of travel agencies.
The Internal Revenue Service (SII) notified the closure of 7,563 companies linked to the tourism industry that could not continue operating due to the emergency during 2021, when only 190,022 tourists arrived to the Andean country.
Currently, the industry has recovered by 75 percent, with respect to the activity noted in 2019, since the Government began in May 2022 a gradual process of opening borders and modifications in the requirements for foreign tourists, a process that culminated last October.
Added to this is the implementation by the Executive of a support program with an investment of some 30 million dollars for the sector, as well as the decision to resume participation in international tourism fairs and promotion in major markets.
“All these measures have allowed the industry to be on a path of recovery of the activity and close to reaching pre-pandemic levels in several aspects”, highlighted Pardo.
According to the Undersecretary of Tourism, the entry of travelers to the country decreased by 75.1 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year, equivalent to more than 3.3 million fewer tourists than in 2019.
Chile is recognized globally as a nature and adventure sports destination, with 63 percent of foreigners stating they were attracted to those characteristics.
The tourism industry also contributes around 3.3 percent of gross domestic product.