Lack of appreciation of the Chilean’s natural patrimony

Chile has amazing places and a lot of them without being discovered. We take a lot of
advantage of the most stunning places while some others haven’t been touristically
exploited. Chile has a lot of tourist potential, but as citizens, we don’t value them for what
they are and the benefits we can get from them. All of this in a respectful and the most
sustainable possible way.
While some places like San Pedro de Atacama or Torres del Paine are being touristically
exploited, we have other places like Altos de Lircay National Reserve or Radal Siete Tazas
National Park in Region del Maule. These two places are next to each other, here you can
find a lot of viewpoints with the most beautiful landscapes.
The tourism industry is underrated in Chile and is the work of the tourism professionals to
give it the value that corresponds, that way everything will flow the right way. Today, the
industry is being managed by people with a lot of experience, but some of them aren’t
aware of the tools and skills that tourism professionals are getting today. Because of this,
Chileans prefer to travel abroad rather than visit their own country, since it is more
expensive. Exemplifying this last situation, a trip (Flight plus hotel) to Rio de Janeiro and
one to Punta Arenas were compared, each one for a week. In this case, we were able to find
out that taking a trip to Rio de Janeiro is 36% cheaper than going to the south of our
country. (Cocha Travel)
If we begin to produce quality experiences, instead of only focusing on getting incomes like
some of them, tourism will get a different value for both Chileans and foreigners. And also,
we can find the factor of appreciating more what we have and the wonderful places that
haven’t been discovered yet by the majority.
 Analysis
The problem is the lack of appreciation of natural patrimony, and all of this has to do with
society and its awareness of what the country has. All of this is seen from the point of view
of what Chile can offer touristically speaking.
The pandemic has destabilized the worldwide economy, having a big impact on tourism
around the world (Impact of the Pandemic on Tourism – IMF F&D, 2020). Because of this,
the incomes in this area have decreased a lot, and it’s going to take a few years to stabilize.
If people invest in great publicity and infrastructure for truly potential places, tourism can
become a great contribution to the country’s economy.
Chile has many beautiful places. A big piece of them are hidden, others are overexploited,
others have difficult access like unpaved roads, and some routes are unclear and without
signs to guide the tourists. Referring to this last point, having no signs to guide tourists,
turns out very difficult to attract people, the same way happens when they have difficult
access.
In my opinion, when tourists visit a place, access is going to have a big impact when they
recommend it to other people, probably it’s going to be more influential than the experience
that you can get from that place. This is also related to the publicity that Chile is having, as
a touristic country. Because of the low publicity that Chile has for the natural patrimony,
there is not much investment in this area; this comes from both sides, from the government,
and between the citizens.
The other part of the problem is the lack of appreciation of the citizens for the natural
patrimony; crime, and attacks not only in touristic places, but also throughout the country.
A lot of the most touristic places are being destroyed by humans because of this, for not
respecting their spaces and nature of them. From my point of view, there is no culture for
respecting nature; there is a lot of destruction, and this is not helping to grow tourism in
Chile.
This problem is related to people’s culture and their appreciation for nature and patrimony.
People who don’t respect natural patrimony, are going against social norms of caring for
the heritage of the country and going in opposition to people that really respect and enjoy
what Chile has. Because people don’t give the respect that nature and history deserve,
investors in the sector don’t invest in tourism, and because of the economic crisis that we
are going through.
It is really hard to try to get investments in the tourism area, when the people whom it is
supposed to take care of their home, don’t do it. It is important that, if we what to grow in
tourism, we must start to value what we have, and the beautiful things that we can get by
showing it to the world.
 Solutions
A solution for our problem; the lack of appreciation from the citizens for the natural
patrimony is, start to promote the country among the citizens, creating eye-catching, quality
publicity that produces a feeling of belonging to the people. In this way, we will be able to
attract people’s attention and curiosity to know their own country.
If we create value between the citizens and the country, we can produce something
attractive for investors, but we have to start by respecting the touristic places that we have
and investing as much as possible in them. If we invest in the places and people that we
have today in the touristic industry, we can improve the image that Chileans have of their
country, so that way, they could start to prefer traveling in the country and not abroad. If we
start to value what we have, other people are going to see it too.
For another part there is the respect for each other and what we are worth as a country,
respect is something that has been lost over the last few years, crime has been also
increasing and society itself has been on the defensive. Adding to this, there are the effects
of the pandemic and the economic crisis we are experiencing worldwide. For all of this last
point, quality education and a community support it is something big to deal with the
effects that we are experiencing right now.
If we can create a little awareness about respect for our country, its history, its heritage, and
its people, we can do great things not only in the touristic area but also in society and the
country.
 Annotated Bibliography

1. Blanco, M. J. (2022, October 08). Estos son los destinos internacionales que los chilenos
están escogiendo Tras el fin de las restricciones sanitarias. Forbes Chile. Retrieved
October 10, 2022, from https://forbes.cl/life/2022-10-08/estos-son-los-destinos-
internacionales-que-los-chilenos-estan-escogiendo-tras-el-fin-de-las-restricciones-
sanitarias/

This post in Forbes Chile explains the destinations that Chileans are preferring for traveling
in 2023, based on a study by Cocha Travel. It is relevant because revealed that 95% of the
national travelers prefer to travel abroad vs the 5% that prefer to travel in Chile. This post
contributes to my case because it sustains the affirmation of Chileans prefer to travel abroad
rather than take a trip in Chile.

2. F., R. C. (2022, May 31). Qué dice El Catastro del Patrimonio vandalizado tras 18-O.
pauta. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://www.pauta.cl/ciudad/catastro-oficial-
destruccion-patrimonio-estallido-social-octubre-2019

This post in the media Pauta, explains to us the damage to the national patrimony on
October 18, 2019, and what the government is doing to restore it. This post is important
because it shows us that 13% of national monuments suffered some kind of destruction and
a lot of the public monuments were severely damaged. It contributes to my case because it
shows evidence of the lack of appreciation that citizens have for cultural heritage.

3. Rechazo y Molestia Por Rayados en Monumento histórico La silla del diablo. CONAF.
(2021, August 18). Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://www.conaf.cl/rechazo-y-
molestia-por-rayados-en-monumento-historico-la-silla-del-diablo/

This post by CONAF showed evidence of the damage to a Historic Monument in Puerto
Natales. In that place, people scratched a rocky set generating damage and rejection
between the citizens and CONAF staff. It is relevant because it shows visual evidence of
the damage created in one of the most popular national parks. This post contributes to my
case because it reinforces the project itself, and the principal idea which is the lack of
appreciation.

4. Vuelos Baratos: Pasajes en Avión, paquetes y más. COCHA. (n.d.). Retrieved October
11, 2022, from https://www.cocha.com/

This site is a travel agency that was useful to get information for the example of traveling
between Rio de Janeiro and Punta Arenas. This page is relevant because we were able to
find out, a real example of the different prices that we have traveling from Santiago to a
city in the same country and another abroad. It contributes to my case because by
comparing two destinations, we were able to see the differences and confirm that traveling
abroad is cheaper.