MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chilean salmon magnate promotes Patagonia tourism industry

Chiloe Island

Chilean businessman Víctor Hugo Puchi, owner of the very successful farmed salmon company AquaChile, is setting his sights on southern Chile's growing tourism industry.

Puchi is starting a new company called Travesía Sur, which will offer high-paying customers "traditional" but upscale boat tours between the island of Chiloé, Region X, and the Chilean mainland. Puchi's partners in the new venture are Vicente Zegers and his wife Natalia Assler, daughter of a famous Chilean sculptor named Federico Assler. Both partners are industrial designers who've focused specifically over the years on preserving Chiloe's cultural heritage. Their idea is to build several passenger boats, following traditional construction methods, and then use the boats to ferry passengers from the large island, through the Guaitecas archipelago, and possibly to the coast of Parque Pumalín. Once the boats and tours are ready â€" possibly as early as next year â€" passengers can expect to pay US$300 to US$500 a day for the trips. "My family and my children are excited about the idea and our participation goes way beyond just an economic sense," Puchi told El Mercurio. "There's a real cultural significance in rescuing the traditions of Chiloé." This is not the first time the AquaChile owner has ventured into the tourism industry. Puchi is currently funding the construction of a fishing lodge in Coyhaique, Region XI. He's also hoping to build a large-scale hotel in Cochrane, also in Region XI. Given his interest in southern Chile's tourism potential, it's not surprising that Puchi â€" a native of Chile's northern Patagonia â€" is very much opposed to the so-called Aysén Project: a US$4 billion plan to build two massive hydroelectric dams on each of Region XI's largest rivers. "My position against the dams is more or less personal," the salmon magnate told the Santiago Times in a recent interview. "I'm from Aysén. I grew up there. And I know how valuable Patagonia is for Chile. I think dam construction constitutes a threat to the region. There would be a huge change to the landscape." The Santiago Times