SANTIAGO – Chile has retained its position amongst the world’s top 20 tourism powerhouses, according to new Power Ranking of World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) for the year 2017.
The South American country has been ranked 18th in the WTTC Power and Performance Report, published ahead of the annual World Tourism Day celebrations.
Tucked between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, Chile has the world’s driest desert in the north, the massive glaciers of Patagonia in the south, the gurgling geysers of El Tatio, and the turquoise waters in the Lake District among many other beautiful places.
Among the countries which have seen fastest growth in international visitor spend, Chile holds the 22nd spot.
Ahead of #WorldTourismDay we are releasing the ‘Travel & Tourism 7 Year Power and Performance Report’. It outlines power and performance rankings which showcase countries that have been most successful in growing their tourism sectors across the board. pic.twitter.com/i3m6oM6FRV
— WTTC (@WTTC) September 26, 2018
For the fourth time in a row, Chile was declared the Best Destination for Adventure Tourism in South America at the 25th World Travel Awards earlier this month.
With an 8.9 US$ billion actual growth, Chile scores 23 in the list of countries which have seen the largest growth in Travel & Tourism’s contribution to GDP over the past seven years.
China, the United States and India take the top three spots in the new Power Ranking which combines growth over the past seven years in tourism’s contribution to GDP, international visitor spend, domestic tourism spend and capital investment.
WTTC President and CEO Gloria Guevara commented, “World Tourism Day is the global celebration of a sector that contributes 10.4% of the world’s GDP and generates 313 million jobs. WTTC’s new report outlines power and performance rankings which showcase countries that have been most successful in growing their tourism sectors across the board.”
Using WTTC’s annual economic impact data, this new report ranks the performance of 185 countries over the last seven-year period, combining four indicators: contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP, international visitor spend, domestic tourism spend and capital investment in tourism. The inclusion of domestic spending and investment allows for a more rounded measure of performance and prioritization than the more usual measures of GDP contribution and international spend.
The report includes two rankings. The ‘Power’ ranking looks at those countries whose T&T has grown most in absolute terms over the past seven years. These countries are those which are powering T&T growth. The top ten countries in the Power ranking are:
1. China
2. USA
3. India
4. Mexico
5. United Kingdom
6. Spain
7. Turkey
8. Canada
9. Indonesia
10. Australia and United Arab Emirates
On Wednesday, the Chilean government launched a huge hiking route through its Patagonian wilderness to attract tourists to places that are often too far away.
The Route of Parks covers 2,800km (1,740 miles), an area three times the size of Switzerland and more than double that of Costa Rica, from the city of Puerto Montt down to Cape Horn.
Chile connects 17 national parks with 2,800 km Patagonia route
The trail was the idea of Tompkins Conservation, the foundation set up by US billionaire Douglas Tompkins and his wife Kristine.
Last year the foundation donated vast amounts of land to Chile’s government.
The land has helped create a network of 17 national parks and the new route – called the Patagonian Route of Parks – connects all of them.
