In order to encourage responsible and safe tourism, Sernatur and Sernac provided a series of recommendations that tourists should consider when hiring tourism services this summer season. There will be close to 28 million trips that will be made in Chile during this time, therefore, it is necessary for travelers to have all the information regarding the formal tourism offer, as well as their rights as consumers.
In the Metropolitan Park of Santiago, the green lung of the capital, both services presented two decalogues: one on adventure tourism services and another regarding the hiring of travel agencies that provide advice for this high season, so that people know well the terms and conditions of what they are agreeing with the companies.
The national director of Sernatur, Cristóbal Benítez, highlighted that “our main recommendation is that people use services that are in our National Registry of Tourist Service Providers, that is, Chile's formal tourism offer. In this business directory, you can find more than 34,000 tourism services of all types, including accommodation, transportation, adventure tourism and more, to enjoy the different alternatives that our country offers."
The National Registry of Tourist Service Providers is the tool that identifies the formal offer of activities carried out in national tourism, that is, companies that have a commercial patent and initiation of activities before the Internal Revenue Service.
For Andrés Herrera, national director of Sernac, “before the start of the holidays and considering the high demand for tourist services, it is very important that consumers know their rights and dare to exercise them. If you as a consumer plan to contract with a tourism company for this vacation, you have the right to know the relevant conditions, for example, the price, and that everything informed or offered is respected and fulfilled, but also, especially, to receive services and products that do not risk your safety or that of your family.”
Herrera added that “if the company causes any damage due to a poorly provided service or a defective product, consumers have the right to be compensated for all the damage caused. For users who opt for the service of a tourism agency, in the event of any non-compliance, these companies have to respond directly to the consumer, even if they have acted as intermediaries for other companies.