SEPT. 15, 2020

Foreign Minister pays homage to the sports competitors who took leading roles in the Chilean " Welcome to Adventure Tourism” campaign, which won an international award

The video of the campaign, which shows a diversity of Chilean landscapes in a few minutes through the eyes of these competitors as they perform in their chosen sports, won first prize in the Tourism Destination category in the fourth year of the prestigious Terres Travel Festival.

Foreign Minister Andrés Allamand paid homage to these six outstanding Chilean competitors who took part in the national "Welcome to Adventure Tourism" campaign.

The video of the campaign, which shows a diversity of Chilean landscapes in a few minutes through the eyes of these competitors as they perform in their chosen sports, won first prize in the Tourism Destination category in the fourth year of the prestigious Terres Travel Festival.

The award is designed to highlight the products available in each country to encourage tourists to travel there.

"The video is simply extraordinary. I found it very exciting and I believe that it reflects very important principles: the idea that our geography is absolutely unique in the world and that we have to look after it; that we have to have a strong commitment to the environment and that we have to combine this commitment with sustainable development. If to these concepts we add the fact that Chile as a nation is deeply committed to sport, we can take a great leap forward in quality," said the Minister.

The ambassadors of the Chilean campaign are Bárbara Hernández (cold-water swimming), Paola Muñoz (cycling), Henrik Von Appen (alpine skiing), Valentina Díaz (pro bodyboarder), Cristian Merello (big-wave surfer) and Francisco "Chaleco" López (rally raid rider).

"I want to thank everyone for giving us this opportunity to represent our country. It is a very special competition and I think I speak for all of us when I say that we were delighted to take part. We went to show who we are as a country. My area is the mountains, but others love cold water, the desert, or the trails," commented Von Appen.

The main object of the production was to promote Chile's rich and diverse geography abroad through the eyes of sports competitors, since their disciplines allow them to enjoy part of the country's unique natural landscape.

"We have an extraordinary and universally recognized country. This diverse land of extremes is not just part of the identity of every Chilean, it has also been the cradle of great talents, like those we see here," enthused Constanza Cea, the Executive Director of Fundación Imagen de Chile.

"The competitors here today, who took part in this campaign, present a different face to the world from Chile's official positioning as an adventure tourism destination," said the Director of the National Tourism Service (Sernatur), Andrea Wolleter.

Chile has been recognised four times in a row as the Best Adventure Tourism Destination in the world, and five times as the best in South America, in the World Travel Awards (WTA). It is competing for the WTA prize again this year. For this reason the "Welcome to Adventure Tourism" video was designed to make the most of this quality of which we can be proud.