The Chilean tourism industry expects a fall of 38.2% in international visitors this summer due to the protests in the country, as well as the economic crisis in Argentina, one of the country’s most important source markets.
The Federation of Tourism Companies of Chile (FEDETUR) estimates an arrival of 1,283,161 international tourists between December, January, February and March, the lowest figure since the 2009-2010 summer period.
Executive Vice president of FEDETUR Helen Kouyoumdjian informed the local media that “the summer season is strongly influenced by the arrival of Argentineans”, so the association foresees a considerable decline.
She also stressed that this is the result of the Chile social outbreak that began on October 18, with protests and riots that have affected the entire country.
“The social crisis we are experiencing already showed us some real figures in November, with a 37% drop in arrivals from all markets, and we project that the coming season will remain the same,” she said.
She said that “2020 is a very bad year for tourism if security conditions and disturbances do not return to normal. The image of Chile is being greatly affected.”
Mrs. Kouyoumdjian said that they are in constant talks with the government to mitigate the impact the situation is having on small and medium-sized tourism companies, which represent 98% of the industry, according to FEDETUR numbers.
She explained that they ask for “some liquidity to be able to continue working in these complicated months, increase resources for international promotion to reach those markets that can be reactivated, and increase programs that help activate the local demand.”
During the last five summers, Argentine tourists arrived in the biggest numbers to Chile (6,260,397), followed by Bolivians (918,578), Brazilians (750,750), Peruvians (701,982) and Americans (505,106).
Europeans include the visitors from Germany (200,214), France (185,074), Spain (149,924) and UK (126,257).