Chile to Make Huge Real Estate Investment in Local Travel Industry

11 March 2005 5:00am

Real estate investments linked to Chile´s tourist sector will climb to little more than $2 billion in the first quarter of the ongoing year, the Higher Tourism Council of the nation´s Chamber of Commerce (CONSETUR) informed this week.

That investment package comprises a 5.2 percent spike from the last quarter of 2004 when that figures peaked $927.3 million. This year´s projected investment is 13.4 percent higher than the cash flow anted up in 2003.

In order to give the local leisure industry a new lease on life, authorities introduced a tax break on hotel chains -most of them are offshore companies operating in the South American nation- and presented nearly a dozen new initiatives that add up $187 million worth of investment in all.

CONSETUR Chairwoman Ana Maria Montes pointed out a huge portion of the fresh cash into the industry will hail from the new National Casino Act, a piece of legislation that´s supposed to enhance gambling possibilities across the country.