A study by El Servicio National de Turismo (SERNATUR) shows that in May, Chile enjoyed a 9% increase in foreign visitors.
Undersecretary of Tourism, Javiera Montes, explained, “In the fifth month of the year we received 228,542 visitors from other countries, which signified an increase of 9 percent over the same time period in May of 2013.”
"These figures show that we are experiencing a significant increase in relation to international arrivals, especially considering that March arrivals showed a decline of 6.3 percent, while April maintained a very similar pattern to 2013 with a slight growth of 1 percent, "Montes said.
The Tourism Authority said Europe sent a high number of visitors during May, with a 13 percent increase in visitors. This continued the trend from April that never dipped below double digits in growth compared to last year. Other key countries visiting Chile included Argentina and Bolivia, with a 14 percent and 12 percent increase over last year, respectively.
Other countries that showed increased tourism in May compared to 2013 were Colombia (up 9 percent) and Canada (up 3.3 percent), both countries reversing the downward trend that had shown the first months of the year . Other noteworthy arrivals included Mexico (up 4 percent), Germany (up 6 percent), Spain (up 5 percent), France (up 29 percent), England (up 18 percent) and Australia (up 19 percent). These are all priority markets with a growing number of tourists interested in visiting our country.
The report notes that in May no significant decreases were recorded from any particular country with the exception of Brazil, which holds a 10 percent decrease in arrivals this year. This mainly reflects that Brazil was preparing for its own international tourism event, the World Cup.
Inbound Tourism Numbers from January to May
The secretary explained, “From January to May 2014 we received 1,661,683 foreign tourists. Although this is similar to the totals from the same period last year, this shows that we are already reversing the downward trend of the first three months of the year.”
In terms of the cumulative volume of the first five months of the year, tourism was led by Argentina which accounted for 675,691 tourists. Another 172,919 came from Bolivia, with Peru and Brazil sending 150,249 and 122,959 tourists, respectively. From Europe, Germany accounted for 32,384 visitors, followed by Spain with 31,319 and France with 30,653 arrivals.
These records are part of the Tourism Barometer which comes out monthly and reports monthly and cumulative SERNATUR international tourist arrivals. It also provides information on air travel, arrivals through different border crossings, and visits to parks, reserves and natural monuments of our country.