MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile to invest 180 million USD in tourism infrastructure

Improving Patagonia and southern islands ports for the cruise industry is at the core of the project

In a nod to the luxury cruiser industry, Chile’s government says it will invest more than 180 million US dollars to improve and expand tourism infrastructure to convince foreign travellers to visit the country.

The National Tourism Service (SERNATUR) is worried that the nation’s tourism infrastructure is not keeping up with the increased number of visitors from abroad.

During the first half of this year there was a 10% increase in European visitors and a 17.4% increase in North American tourists. In 2008, the tourism industry in Chile was estimated at 2 billion USD.

The tourism plan of action, developed in conjunction with SERNATUR, hopes to increase tourism from 2.5 million people in 2007 to 3 million in 2010.

In 2009, nearly 30 cruise ships docked into Castro, on the island of Chiloe. In 2008, that number was only 10, down radically because of Castro’s inadequate docking infrastructure.

Chile’s Public Works Ministry (MOP) has initiated a series of project to promote Chile's tourism and improve infrastructure by the year 2020, with a price tag of 160 million. One of its goals is to compete with the ports of Argentina. Still, to do so, Chile needs to deal with port management issues in order to reduce prices.

Four main projects are planned. The first is the dredging of the Canal de Tenglo in Puerto Montt, which is set to begin in 2011, at a cost of 10 million USD. This will allow larger cruise ships to dock in Puerto Montt.

The second project is an investment of US 4.5 million for the multipurpose terminal in Castro, to be finished in 2010. There are also plans to construct a pier for cruise ships in the southern part of Chile, in Puerto Navarino. The cost is of 2.3 million and construction began in December 2008. Another pier will be construction in Puerto Williams, also for cruise ships, this at a cost of 5.4 million

All of this work will improve the ports in the Patagonia and the island regions to accommodate larger ships and, therefore, increase tourism to the extreme parts of the country.

Finally, to properly equip the regions of Los Rios, Los Lagos, Aysen and the Magallanes with infrastructure, the government believes it will need an additional 243 million USD. They hope to build 43 ports along the coastline to bring in more passenger boats to Chile and to add buildings to attract tourists. Work would first begin in the southern part of the country.

Other infrastructure investments under consideration include trails in extreme parts of the country and the (often bogged down) customs offices in the Los Libertadores pass between Chile and Argentina.

“Chile’s tourism industry needs to be known to the world for the quality of its service and to do this, the first step towards this is the construction of the ports to offer a better service,” said Pier-Paolo Zaccarelli, manager of Negocios de Enjoy and the director of Turismo Chile.

By Melanie Meloche-Holubowski - Santiago Times