Chile Expects to Receive 4 Million Tourists this Year

Upbeat on the tourism front, Chile expects to receive some 4 million tourists this year which is an increase of 3.6 million from 2014, Tourism Undersecretary Javiera Montes said.
 
In her speech at the close of the annual conference of the Chilean Association of Tourism Companies in Copiapo, 800 kilometers (about 500 miles) north of Santiago said, “In the past 10 years, we’ve increased tourist arrivals by almost 100 percent.”

Latin America is the most important tourist market for Chile accounting for 77.4 percent of the tourist arrivals.

The Tourism Undersecretary acknowledged that it is a challenge for Chile to attract tourists from other parts of the world, especially the United States and Europe.

The tourism ministry on Monday released its National Plan for Sustainable Tourism Development.

The Chilean tourist industry annually brings in some $7.3 billion. In 2004, the country welcomed 1.8 million tourists, but that number had grown to 3.6 million by 2014.

Some 200 representatives of Chilean tourism companies attended the event.