MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile receives less than 30% of S America cruises

Chile must take action in order to attract more cruises to the country.

Chile receives 2% of the world's cruise tourists, according to a report port experts presented this week to Chile's System of Public Companies (SEP). The researchers recommended Chile take action in order to attract more cruisers to the country's shores.

In addition to revealing Chile's low participation in the worldwide cruise tourism market, the panel of experts divulged less than 30% of travelers on South American cruises visit Chile. The panel advised Chile to respond by acting "quickly" to prevent new cruise destinations from luring even more tourists away from the country. Chile's cruise industry has less than 10 years of experience. In the experts' view, one of the "important challenges" facing this nascent business is that the design of Chilean ports caters principally to cargo ships. The panel claimed that in order to make ports more tourist-friendly, Chile should implement procedures and technology to facilitate the disembarking and boarding of cruise ship passengers, thus permitting tourists more time on land. The experts said communities, businesses and local government should collaborate more closely to ensure tourists will enjoy the time they spend in Chilean port cities. Before providing tourists with a pleasant visit, however, Chile must attract them. The panel said the allocation of funds for this purpose should fall to officials in charge of publicizing Chile as a tourist destination abroad, not to the ports themselves. Specifically, the experts recommended promoting Chile's northern regions as destinations for cruises originating in Central America. Despite the fact Chile receives a relatively small number of cruise tourists, the report showed the cruise industry shows a higher growth rate in South America than in the world on average. The Santiago Times