Owing to its experience with Antarctic nature and adventure expeditions and so-called special interest tourism, Chile’s far southern Magallanes region is the ideal spot for the development of “industry without smokestacks”, Bernama news reported.
Lorena Araya Guarda, the regional director of Chile’s Sernatur tourism service, said that the eyes of the world are focused on this region.
“We’re determined to diversify the tourism that comes to the region, beyond Torres del Paine, which has been the iconic spot internationally for tourists. We also have other riches that are beginning to become known,” Araya said.
Araya was participating in the Scientific Circulation and Innovation Hackathon in the Chilean city of Punta Arenas, a forum that has attracted young entrepreneurs from seven South American countries.
Magallanes contains five parks and three national preserves where an abundance of varied flora and fauna may be seen in Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica and around Cape Horn and the Strait of Magellan, which in 2020 will celebrate the 500th anniversary of its discovery.
In fact, the extensive territory of about 132,000 square kilometers (about 51,000 square miles), with its low population density of just 1.25 per square km boasts natural sites that attract numerous foreign visitors.
“Magallanes is the gateway to Antarctica,” said Araya, who expressed her thanks for the support of the Chilean Antarctic Institute, the scientific entity that in the coming weeks will launch the largest expedition in its history comprised of almost 200 scientists from about 20 countries.
