Two weeks before tourism businessmen end the summer season, they affirm that this year visits have decreased considerably. They highlight that, although January was a month with few overnight stays, in February there has been a rebound.
One aspect that local tourism associations agree on is that there is “a new way of spending the summer” where people stay in hotels and cabins for a short time, two or three days at most, and not a full week as was usually the case. Economic difficulties would be the reason behind this change.
From the commune of Quillón, the president of the Chamber of Tourism, Andrés Paquiere, points out that Friday, Saturday and Sunday are when there is the greatest presence of vacationers. In addition, he highlights that the artistic and musical shows programmed by the municipality have attracted visitors.
“In February it rebounded from the second week, which is this week we are in now and it has gone well for us. We don’t know if it is because the lineup of artists coming this weekend has been a reason for more people to come, visits have increased significantly. But the bad thing is that it will be a very short period, because January was lost, it was very bad, no people came, there was not even enough to pay salaries. In the month of February, people have come, but they are not coming like before, they came for a week, now people are coming for two or three days. Currently I have not had anyone who stays seven days,” he indicates.
It stands out that this weekend they are full of reservations, however, they warn that from February 22 onwards they will have 30% to 40% of the capacity. “The last week of February always ends the season, but there is still hope that people will arrive for the last fortnight,” adds Paqué.
The president of the Quillón Chamber of Tourism projected that this season they would have happy accounts, but he affirms that this summer has been worse than the previous one. “We thought it was going to increase now, we had the Covid problems two years ago, and the truth is that from then on people began to lose themselves. We believe it is due to the economic situation of the country, at least that is the conclusion we are drawing. If this is repeated everywhere it might be a country problem, a Lucas problem in general,” he says.
“And the other thing, the low prices that are in Argentina, there are practically many people who take a bus or a plane and go somewhere else and it costs them half as much. There are people here who have been calling Argentina, who did not make the quotas on time and it turns out that they found that there was no space. There are many people who go in vehicles to the south, they pass through Pucón and go to San Martín de los Andes, everything is full there, everything reserved in advance. Here people don’t even make reservations, before they called one or two months before, now no one calls, they only call when they go,” he laments.
Paqué highlights the work carried out by the municipality to improve the main resort of Quillón so that users can find optimal facilities, such as the construction of a beach volleyball court and a skating court. “The Avendaño lagoon was greatly beautified and it was also at the request of the tourism businessmen to improve the view, the image, the cleanliness, the entire infrastructure, things that can be done with just people, such as maintenance, cleaning, security, parking, which “The public that comes is comfortable, they have vigilance,” he says.
Ñuble Coast
In Cobquecura the trend is similar: more tourists in February, especially on weekends, which coincide with the summer activities programmed by the municipality. During the recent Candelaria festival, the accommodations were completely full.
“The cabin owners claim that they have tourists, but they don’t stay for more than three days. Maybe more people will come, but for less time. We have seen this a lot, but the presence of people is noticeable on Friday, Saturday and Sunday,” says Francisco Maldonado, president of the Chamber of Commerce, Tourism and Development of Cobquecura.
He maintains that just as tourists come on weekends, there are also people who visit the commune only for the day. “You can tell that there is less money, because it happens that the restaurants are not full during the week, people come during the day and bring their things, but on the weekends they come more like on vacation, with family. “It’s like the new way of spending the summer,” he says.
“Last year we were still sort of coming out of Covid and people still wanted to go out and wanted to spend, to have a good time, to stay longer. Now people can spend but they spend fewer days,” he highlights.
Regarding the percentage of occupancy, Maldonado indicates that the cabins that are on the road, on the side of the road, are full, while the accommodations that are “more hidden” register 50% occupancy.
He warns that “many tourists arrive uninformed, in the sense of looking for any cabin, that’s when they hit the stick. There are still cabins for $35,000, $40,000, a good cabin, which you can do with more time, reserving, and if you get here they might say $70,000 in some places. So the informed tourist is the one who buys the most.”
The people who mostly visit the commune of Cobquecura come from Concepción, Talca, San Carlos and Chillán.
Maldonado hopes that in the month of March visitors can still arrive, especially those looking to disconnect and be in peace. “Cobquecura is a quiet place, you can walk around at midnight, nothing happens to you, there are very few robberies, so for tourists it is something treasured,” he adds.
Saint Fabian
In the foothills commune of San Fabián they say that this summer the influx of tourists has been lower than in past seasons.
This is stated by the president of the Chamber of Tourism, Farides Zúñiga. “We have already taken stock, and this is more than anything because of the issue of the economy. You do see a lot of people out for the day or people on a picnic or camping, but overnight stays have dropped a lot. We have been at around 70% to 60% more or less, not considering the week, because the week is lower, but on the weekends it is already a little more crowded,” she details, adding that overnight stays are between two to four days.
It stands out that they work together with the municipality to promote tourism in the commune throughout the year. “This week is the Arriera Culture Week, which is very beautiful and typical of San Fabián. There are many nice things that are being done as an attraction. “We are not going to give up, we are going to continue doing things and events all year round to be able to continue attracting tourists.”
In his opinion, the commune lacks infrastructure that can provide quality services to users who visit the commune, who are especially young people who go camping, rafting, trekking, horseback riding, and adventure activities.
“I feel that in San Fabián we are still poor in infrastructure, the Government should invest in many things so that we can achieve more with a quality standard of better care, quality of service. I feel that they have injected little money into San Fabián, both in tourism proposals and in Corfo, Sercotec projects, among others,” he questions.
Farides called on the authorities to invest resources in San Fabián by promoting local tourism. “We continue to be a poor tourist commune, I feel that the resources have gone to many places, but not to San Fabián. We are dealing with many projects in question that have not been consolidated, such as the purchase of Laguna de la Plata, the Minas Ñuble border crossing, but nothing has been finalized. So in the end we feel that we are left with promises,” he says.
“I think the government has a tremendous challenge in that things have to be done faster, they have to be specified and resources have to be lowered by commune, not because one gets along well with someone or because they are from the same political party. ”, he highlights.
The president of the San Fabián Chamber of Tourism believes that the commune can be projected as a tourist hub. In addition, she has high expectations of the benefits that the activation of the Minas-Ñuble border crossing can bring.
“Be that as it may, it is a border crossing that opens new routes, new paths and wherever tourists are going to come from, even if they pass through Cobquecura, the beach is still close to them. “I believe in tourism projection,” he highlights.
The Discussion tried repeatedly to establish contact with the Chamber of Commerce and Tourism of Las Trancas to find out the balance of the summer season but it was not possible.
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