At the first meeting of the year of the Committee of Ministers for Tourism, a key body for the analysis and approval of the various initiatives related to the tourism field, the ministers of Agriculture, Environment, Public Works, Cultures, Arts and Heritage, Goods National and Housing and Urban Planning learned and approved the content of the National Sustainable Tourism Plan 2024-2026.
The initiative aims to recover international tourist flows and boost domestic tourism demand, strengthening the resilience of the sector and its workforce, increasing average spending per traveler and sustainable destination management. This work is projected framed in the relevance that each territory defines for its development, based on its own perspectives and aspirations for economic and social development.
The Minister of Economy, Nicolás Grau, pointed out that “this is a fundamental step that requires inter-ministerial coordination, so that, when each of the ministries designs their different policies, they have the perspective of tourism at the center of those decisions. . This is relevant in what happens in the territories, in terms of infrastructure, the coordination that may exist between the ecological perspective, education and how that can be a tourist attraction. It is also relevant in the relationship that exists between culture and tourism. All this shows how tourism must be part of various conversations and that requires inter-ministerial coordination.”
The Undersecretary of Tourism, Verónica Pardo Lagos, pointed out that “this is a great advance for the country and, mainly, for all those who work in the tourism sector. We want Chile to be a global benchmark in sustainable tourism and for the sector to consolidate itself as a strategic economic activity for our country. The support of all the ministers of the Committee is essential to continue the work on this matter, which also allows us to translate the proposals collected throughout the country and in a participatory manner."
The National Sustainable Tourism Plan 2024-2026 corresponds to the revitalization phase of the National Sustainable Tourism Strategy and is structured into three focuses: tourism as a strategic activity, the revitalization of the work and business environment and the enabling conditions for tourism. In addition, it considers nine lines of action and more than 50 initiatives.
For his part, Cristóbal Benítez, national director of Sernatur, valued the approvals and highlighted that “they are very important due to the spaces for articulation and the willingness of all the ministries to work with a tourist perspective in each of them. As an additional challenge, there appears the need for how we incorporate into tourism promotion all the cultural, heritage, and environmental offers that the ministries raise, especially for the national market. From Sernatur and our site Chile es Tuyo, we are working specifically for this, especially in the construction of the new national marketing plan.”
National Sustainable Tourism Strategy
At the meeting, the Undersecretariat of Tourism presented the background of the National Sustainable Tourism Strategy for the year 2035, a document that was built after the Committee of Ministers approved its implementation in August 2022.
The National Sustainable Tourism Strategy – which is part of the government program of President Gabriel Boric Font – will be the sector's roadmap for the next 10 years. In its construction stage, nearly 2,300 people participated in the 16 regions of the country and included phases of revitalization, consolidation and acceleration. The strategy will be launched soon, where the details of the work that was carried out in a decentralized and participatory manner will be announced.
Source: SERNATUR.