Chile has set a global opening date for its borders

Chile, one of the few countries in the region to still keep its borders closed, announced on Thursday that it would allow the entry of tourists of any nationality from November 23, without the need to comply with the quarantine but with the obligation to present a negative PCR.

Foreign tourists will only be able to enter through Arturo Merino Bentez Airport, which serves Santiago de Chile, although over time, other air terminals and ports will be opened across the country, according to the Official Gazette.

Before getting started Chile, they must complete an affidavit which details their origin and destination, as well as their state of health and the possible presence of symptoms attributable to covid-19, and they will also have to present a PCR test with a negative result, whose age is less than 72 hours “in a laboratory recognized by the local health authority”.

The border closure decreed on March 17, during which only foreign nationals and residents could enter, severely affected the tourism industry, which has already lost the ski season and now hopes to overcome millionaire losses with the start of the season. southern summer.

According to the Federation of Tourism Companies of Chile (Fedetur), in 2019, around 4.5 million foreign visitors arrived and during the pandemic half of the jobs in the industry were lost, equivalent to 300,000 workers.

Torres del Paine National Park, one of the country’s most touristic areas located in Patagonia, also announced on Thursday that it will open on November 26 after nearly eight months of closure.

The pandemic has been receding for months in Santiago, which was the country’s main focus, although some areas in the south are affected, such as Los Ros, La Araucana, Aysn and Magallanes, which is Chile’s gateway to Antarctica. and continues to have the highest incidence rate due to 100,000 inhabitants in the country.