EFFECTS OF THE CORONAVIRUS ON THE TOURISM SECTOR IN CHILE

Abstract

In recent years, the development of tourism in the world showed a favorable evolution, both in tourist arrivals, as well as in income, employment, and diversification of the hotel offerings, among other indicators. In the case of Chile, 2019 became the scene of a social outbreak, the effects of which on tourism caused a sharp reduction in the number of international tourist arrivals and generated an overall sense of insecurity for internal travelers. In this context, the authorities and entrepreneurs in the tourism sector were preparing to take on the challenge. Their idea was to promote an intense advertising campaign aimed at recovering demand. The objective of this article is to analyze the scenario facing the tourism sector in Chile based on the situation generated by the coronavirus and to identify some key challenges that the sector will have to face to overcome it by taking into account the factors that triggered the social conflict in the first place. To analyze the evolution of the Chilean situation, firstly, a descriptive methodology is applied to clearly identify the evolution of the situation during the first months of 2020 in Chile. Secondly, the epa (Events Protest Analysis) method is applied to analyze press publications. Regarding the visible impact of the pandemic, there is a 99,7% drop in tourist arrivals compared to August 2019 and a 45,2% drop in the employment of accommodation and food service personnel (Deputy Secretary of Tourism, 2020). Likewise, collective protest actions, unprecedented in the country, were observed in which negative attitudes toward visiting tourists were displayed by the local communities in towns that had registered few cases of coronavirus. This situation presents a complex challenge for tourist destinations and will require new research efforts in the tourism sector to generate knowledge and planning instruments that help to face the increasingly frequent crises.