Director of Tourism: "We are going to grow, but not as much" as in 2008

SANTIAGO.- Despite the worldwide economic crisis, the director of the National Tourism Service (Sernatur), Óscar Santelices, has stated that the situation will indeed affect the industry, but will play less of a role than expected.

"We are going to grow, but not as much as we had become accustomed to in recent years, with two-digit figures", stated the director of Sernatur to Radio Cooperativa.  Furthermore, Santelices announced that during 2008, 2,650,000 people entered the country as tourists and contributed some US$ 2 billion dollars to the industry.

Despite the figures however, Santelices indicated that for 2009 a decline is expected in the number of foreign tourists due to the international crisis and said that earnings should reach US$ 2.1 or US$ 2.2 billion dollars.

With regards to national tourism, Santelices stated that "the coast continues to be the area most visited by Chilean tourists" and indicated that when Argentine tourists visit, the preferred vacation spots are the Regions of Valparaíso, Coquimbo and Pichilemu.

Meanwhile, foreign tourists prefer to visit Patagonia, with the Atacama Desert coming in second and with Valparaíso and Easter Island tied in third place.