MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Visitor numbers down for Chile’s Torres del Paine

Visits to Chilean Patagonia’s Torres del Paine National Park were down slightly this tourist season, which began in October, 2008, and ended last month.

During the five-month period 123,570 tourists visited the park, about 2.27% fewer than in the 2007-2008 season when Torres del Paine attracted more than 146,000 visitors.

The drop is attributed to the ongoing world financial crisis.

The number of foreign visitors decreased by nearly 6,000 – from 93,202 to 87,375. The number of Chilean visitors, however, increased from 33,240 to 36,195.

This season’s visitor decline follows a decade of steady growth for Torres del Paine, an isolated but spectacularly beautiful 4 park that boasts turquoise lakes, glaciers and an iconic stand of “towers” (mountains).

In the 2007-2008 season visits to Torres de Paine spiked more than 18% compared to the previous year. Santiago Times