Chile exceeded 3 million international visitors

The Undersecretariat of Tourism - dependent on the Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism - released the numbers of foreign tourist arrivals for the period between January and August 2019.
In this period, says the Tourism Barometer published by the government entity, the growth of strategic markets stands out, such as Spain (11.9%), United States (9.9%), Canada (9.1%), Germany (7.8%), Mexico (7.8%), England (6.9%), Colombia (6.4%), China (6.3%), France (4.2%) and Australia (1 , 7%). On the other hand, other relevant markets such as Argentina and Brazil showed decreases in the arrival of tourists that reached 43.2% and 0.7%, respectively.
According to the Undersecretary of Tourism, Monica Zalaquett, as it has been going on for more than a year, the global figures are strongly influenced by the loss of Argentine tourists due to the economic situation of that country. In fact, when analyzing the international scenario without Argentina, they have reached 30,690 additional tourists, maintaining the behavior with the year 2018.
In that sense, the undersecretary explained that “we continue working on an international positioning strategy that allows us to diversify our strategic markets to increase the number of visitors coming from longer stay markets and higher spending. An example is what happens with Spain, which has been increasing progressively and that in August of this year registered a growth of 24.4% ”.
Additionally, the National Tourism Authority said, another fundamental element to alleviate the loss of Argentine tourists is related to promoting domestic tourism, which is why the Undersecretariat of Tourism is carrying out the promotion campaign “And you, how much do you know Chile” , which aims to “that more and more Chileans are encouraged to tour our country, to visit different places, thus activating local production chains,” said Zalaquett.

Global figures and other relevant data
In global terms, the Undersecretariat of Tourism reports that during the eighth month of the year the arrival of 322,858 foreign tourists was registered in the country, representing a 13.3% decrease compared to the same month of 2018 (372,443). The drop in arrivals in August 2019 is mainly explained by the drop in arrivals of Argentine tourists, which has remained since 2018 to date, and which in August fell 27.6%.
Meanwhile, for the accumulated period January-August 2019 the number of foreign visitors reaches 3,199,945, 19.6% lower than the same period of the previous year (3,980,040), which is equivalent to 780,095 fewer tourists.
In terms of economic indicators of the sector, the increase in the arrival of passengers, both domestic and foreign, to Tourist Accommodation Establishments (EAT) stands out. For the January-July 2019 period, the arrival of 1,009,279 passengers is recorded, which implies a 7% increase over the same period of the previous year. Simulate growth shows overnight stays, which, for the same period analyzed, total 2,196,314 (+ 7.3%). Meanwhile, the occupancy rate in hotels reached 52.1%.
Finally, the report highlights the 6.1% decrease, during August of this year, in air transport service prices.