Authorities advise taking shelter if the travel destination is in the regions where there are active outbreaks of fire and reiterated that the running of the industry is working normally in the rest of the country.

The Under Secretary of Tourism in Chile reports that the emergency that the country is facing due to wildfires has had an impact on tourist operations, but in a limited way in the territories where the fight against wildfires continues.

Until now the main focuses are registered in the center-south area of the country, in parts of the Ñuble, Biobío, and Araucanía regions, and to a lesser extent in the Maule and Los Ríos regions, where emergency groups are working and using intensely routes and roads, thus terrestrial connectivity can be modified at specific times. Moreover, there is mobility restriction in 28 districts between 12 a.m. and 5 a.m.

“We call on foreign and national tourists to keep informed of, through official means such as Senapred and Conaf, the emergency situation and its impact on the destinations located in the affected regions. Furthermore, we suggest getting in touch with the tourist service providers and evaluating with all the necessary information if it is appropriate to travel or not,” says Harry Estay, the Acting Tourism Secretary (surrogate).

The authorities also emphasized that air connectivity has not been affected and the flights from and to Chile have not suffered alterations, nor are there variations to the flights across Chile. For their part, the 36-land border complex are open and working as usual.

According to the doubts that have emerged due to the effects of the fire effects in the main tourist destinations in the country, Sernatur National Director, Cristóbal Benítez, explained that “these destinations have not been affected because the emergency is in areas far from these points of international interest. For instance, tourist services in Torres del Paine, the beaches in the center zone, and the Atacama Desert, among others, are running normally”.

Chile takes care of you

The Chilean government puts at the disposal of tourists who arrive in our country a set of guidelines, where they will find recommendations for a good trip and advice on prevention, self-care, and response to an eventuality, as well as emergency services contact numbers and links to access services of interest.

Foreign and national visitors can access the document by scanning the QR codes that will be at airports, border crossings, and through different tourist services. Moreover, we invite you to visit the Conaf and Senapred websites where the information related to the emergency caused by wildfires is updated.