This report by the Undersecretary of Tourism and the National Tourism Service (Sernatur) indicates that 79,990 visitors arrived in the country during this period, 997,112 less than in the same period of last year, when 1,077,102 travelers visited Chile.

Jose Luis Uriarte, Undersecretary of Tourism, explained that such a low figure was to be expected given the context of the Covid-19 pandemic that continues to hit the world.

He detailed that more than 60 percent of the world’s destinations remain totally or partially closed and restrictions on the entry of foreign visitors persist as a measure to control the spread of the virus’.

Uriarte told the website El Mostrador that ‘from the World Tourism Organization, it is expected that the vaccination process, the generation of agreed protocols and the lifting of sanitary restrictions could lead to the beginning of a recovery of travel in the second half of the year’.

The report also points out that as a result of the pandemic, the sector’s foreign exchange income plunged by almost 80 percent in 2020, with only 592 million dollars, far below the 2. 354 billion dollars collected in 2019.

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