The summer ends with positive news for tourism: Between December and February, 1.2 million foreign tourists arrived in Chile, a 475% increase over 2022
The top five countries of origin were Argentina, Bolivia, USA, Brazil and Peru. A total of US$682 million was generated.
Although the summer season is not yet over, as it ends on March 15, the data for February have been more than positive in terms of the arrival of foreign tourists and trips within Chile, according to Tourism Undersecretary Verónica Kunze.
Between December and February, 1,219,670 foreign tourists were registered arriving in the country, well above the numbers recorded in 2022 and 2021. This also represents a recovery of 75% compared to 2019. The five main markets were Argentina, Bolivia, USA, Brazil and Peru.
It is estimated that the income from receptive tourism so far this 2023 summer season totals US$682.7 million. This is an increase of +1,826.6% over 2021 and +517.0% over 2022. It also represents a recovery of 74.2% compared to 2019 (US$920.6 million).
Domestic tourism
From the perspective of domestic tourism, it is estimated that a total of 22,337,945 trips with overnight stays were made to February 2023. This is +4.2% over the same period in 2022 and +71.5% over the same period in 2021.
With regard to the 2019 summer season, considered to February, an increase of +2.4% can be seen, equivalent to 519,036 more trips with an overnight stay. It should be noted that, during February, there have been various fires in Chile’s central and southern areas, which has reduced the number of overnight trips there.
The income from domestic tourism between December 2022 and February 2023 is estimated at US$3,070.3 million. This is an increase of +129.3% over the same period in 2021 and +16.9% over the same period in 2022.
Compared to the same period in 2019 (US$2,602.2 million), this year represents an increase of +18.0%, exceeding pre-pandemic levels by approximately US$468.1 million.
Torres del Paine National Park, another of the places that received the most visits this summer in Chile.
Occupancy rate
The total occupancy rate for the 49 destinations included in the study was 68.2%. The destinations that obtained an occupancy rate above 80.0% were: “Siete Lagos” (89.4%); "Valdivia - Corral" (88.2%); "Litoral de los Poetas" (87.8%); “Torres del Paine National Park and Puerto Natales” (87.5%); "Litoral Norte - Papudo" (87.5%); "Araucanía Lacustre" (86.0%); “Llanquihue and Todos los Santos Lakes” (84.1%); “Elqui Valley” (83.2%); "La Serena and Coquimbo" (83.0%); and “Caldera - Pan de Azúcar National Park” (80.6%).
28.3% of the destinations (13 out of 46) experienced an increase in their occupancy rate in 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Those that stand out with a growth above 10 percentage points are: "Olmué - La Campana" (+15.6 pp); “Torres del Paine National Park and Puerto Natales” (+13.9 pp); and "Litoral de los Poetas" (+11.2 pp).
Employment
In terms of those employed in tourism characteristic activities (TCA), and according to figures from the National Statistics Institute (INE), the last published quarter, which corresponds to the mobile quarter November-December 2022 and January 2023, a total of 613,489 people were employed. This shows an increase of 82,614 additional employed persons in TCA (+15.6%) over those employed in the same quarter of the previous year. In relation to 2019, 30,393 more people needed to have been employed to recover to pre-pandemic levels.