The Undersecretariat of Tourism and Sernatur celebrate the continued growth in the arrival of international tourists to Chile, both through the Santiago Airport and through border crossings. These figures reflect the successful reactivation of the tourism sector after the effects of the pandemic.
According to the data provided, the country has maintained a solid recovery in foreign tourist arrivals. In October 2024 alone, the country received 456,569 international tourists, becoming the third month with the highest number of visitors, after January (506,231) and July (460,267).
As of October, Chile has received a total of 4,085,940 international tourists, representing an increase of 38.8% compared to 2023 and 7.7% more than in 2019.
Following these figures, the Undersecretary of Tourism, Verónica Pardo, pointed out that “this year's figures are the best news of 2024. This growth is the result of hard work, with a focus on strategic markets. International promotion has been key, especially with initiatives such as the segmentation of Brazil, which has allowed us to open new air routes and significantly increase arrivals from that country, with an increase of 71.2% compared to 2023 and +43.6% compared to 2019.”
“Furthermore, next year will be crucial to consolidate these advances. We have two major international events that will put Chile in the world spotlight,” added the Undersecretary.
In this regard, the national director of Sernatur, Cristóbal Benítez, said that “we are very pleased to announce these figures, which confirm that this year marks the recovery of tourism in our country, because we can see that we have recovered the level of foreign tourist arrivals that we had before the pandemic and that we have even set new trends with markets such as Brazil, thanks to the work we are carrying out through our International Marketing Plan.” The authority also highlighted that “we are projected to reach close to 5 million tourist arrivals this year, which will be excellent news for inbound tourism.”
Top tourist-sending countries and recovered markets
So far this year (January to October), Argentina remains the top tourist-sending market, accounting for 38.5% of total arrivals in 2024, up 26.9% from 2019 and 60% from 2023. Brazil is in second place, with 16.7% of total tourist arrivals, marking its best year ever, up 71.2% from 2023 and 43.6% from 2019.
As for the recovered markets, tourists from the United States stand out, with a total of 184,787 until October, +6.1% compared to 2019; tourists from Uruguay have increased by 87.7% more than in 2023 and 0.7% compared to pre-pandemic figures (2019).
In addition, this year has seen record numbers of travellers from Colombia and Mexico, totalling 127,624 and 46,627 respectively, representing a +19.1% and +14.3% increase compared to 2019.
Chile, diverse entry routes
Santiago Airport remains the main gateway, receiving a total of 1,859,827 international tourists so far in 2024, or 45.5% of total arrivals to the country.
As for border crossings, the Valparaíso region leads with 683,735 entries, of which 99.94% are through the Cristo Redentor System. It is followed by the Magallanes region, with 283,239 entries, with the Dorotea Border Crossing standing out as the main entry point, with 39.32% of the regional total. For its part, the Los Lagos region maintains a constant flow through the Cardenal Antonio Samoré Border Crossing, with 209,069 entries through October.
Source: SERNATUR.