Chile’s tourism appeal still runs somewhat under the radar in Australia – that is we know it’s a great country to visit, but don’t necessarily know why.
Compared to some of its Latin America neighbours, particularly Peru and Brazil, Chile is still an up and coming tourist destination for the average Australian.
According to country’s tourism board, Turismo Chile, around 50,000 Australians visit the country every year.
This figure has been growing steadily since 2012 when Qantas opened the destination up to Australian travellers with direct flights between Sydney and capital city, Santiago.
During a visit to Sydney last month, Turismo Chile’s Asia Pacific Markets Manager, Pablo Javier Retamal talked to KarryOn about what’s driving more Australians to spend time in the country and what they’re getting up to during their visit.
One area most people don’t realise is booming for Chile is cruising, what type of cruises are they taking?
It’s not cruising in the way most people see cruising.
It’s Patagonia cruising where smaller ships that are very well equipped take guests from the Argentinean borders to the Chilean fjords.
There passengers see massive ice fields, cruise between glaciers and see incredible wildlife.
There’s also whale watching and friendly dolphins swim next to boats.
And of course, Chile is the start point for a number of Antarctica cruises.
How has cruising grown?
Torres del Paine mountains, Patagonia, Chile
We have around 50,000 Australians travelling to Chile every year.
Of those, I would say around 30-40 percent visit Patagonia and many excursions around South America include a cruise component.
So it is hard to determine who is cruising and who isn’t. But it’s definitely a growing sector in Chile.
Air NZ announced it is flying direct to Argentina, are you concerned this will take people off Qantas’ direct flights to Santiago?
Santiago
We’re actually extremely happy about this. It means more competition, which will create more competitive prices.
There will also be more flights getting people to South America and people that visit the region tend to do multi-destination itineraries.
We’re not afraid of competition. Chile has a fantastic product and it is starting to become more of a top of mind destination in the Australian market, particularly with wholesalers.
Are Australians among those multi-destination travellers?
Woman herdling llamas in San Pedro de Atacama
Australians travelling to South America at the moment are not just visiting Chile.
They’re coming to see several countries. So if they’re arriving in Argentina with Air New Zealand they’ll come to Chile as well.
Those arriving in Chile are not just coming here, they’re going on to Peru and maybe even Rio and Argentina.
So we expect the same will happen with Australians and New Zealanders that travel to South America via Argentina.
Where are Australians going when they arrive in Chile?
Atacema Desert. Image: Anton_Ivanov/Shutterstock.com
Santiago is number one. Around 70 percent of all Australian credit cards are on hotels in Santiago.
There’s a trend amongst more Australians travelling to the north for the Atacama Desert. It is the driest desert in the world, but that’s obviously not the only reason they’re going.
They go there because they have a little town called San Pedro (or Saint Peter). It is one of those white walled villages, which is 2,400 to 3,000 metres high and features relics and design from the Andean culture.
It’s incredible seeing how these people survived in these desert conditions.
Visitors also get the chance to see flamingos and salt flats (white, flat landscapes.
It’s a year-round destination unlike the Patagonia, which has a peak season between December and April.
What are other up and coming locations for Australian travellers?
Easter Island.
Another destination is Easter Island – it is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and when it was originally found, it had only around 100 people living there.
A lot of research has been done by several countries in Eastern Island to learn about the culture and its early inhabitants.
How long are Australians staying in Chile?
Ten days is the average and a lot of that time is spent on cruises.
So they fly into Santiago for two days, take an eight-day cruise and then spend more time in the city.
Of those that fly in and fly to another destination, a high number will go to Machu Picchu.
