Railway for Tourism in South America: An Approach on Its Uses

Abstract

In this paper, the authors focus on the interplay between railways and tourism. Therefore, evidence is provided in order to decipher the manner in which railways are used for tourism purposes in South America. With a view to achieving this goal, an exploratory approach is used, which consists in the analysis of publications on tourism and transportation made by renowned scholars, as well as a descriptive approach, based upon the classification of data obtained from public and private railway organizations. The paper notes that tourism is of paramount importance in the protection of the railway heritage in South America. Following this line of reasoning, it is concluded that there is a wide variety of tourist trains which exploit either the cultural and historical aspects of railways or the bewitching landscapes offered by railway trips and create experiences for tourists.