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Chile corridor raises hope for South American travel resumption

The Latin American Travel Association has welcomed Chile being added to the UK travel corridors list.

The 350-member organisation believes the South American country will reopen its borders to international visitors from November 23.

The second lockdown in England will prevent travel for reasons other than business until restrictions are lifted from December 2.

But LATA hopes tourist will be able to visit Chile soon, helped by a direct British Airway service from Heathrow to the capital of Santiago.

Chief executive Danny Callaghan said: “It is worth noting that many other destinations in Latin America also have similar and indeed lower infection rates so we hope that this is the first step for the region and many other destinations will soon be added to the list.

“I personally believe that the blanket ban was an effective way to put the brakes on at the start of the Covid outbreak, so that we could take stock of the situation and understand how to carry out safe travel, but the continuation of this blanket advice is unwarranted.

“The tourism industry has worked tirelessly to understand and mitigate the challenges posed by the pandemic and I think now is the time for the FCO to revert to providing information on Covid so that consumers can make informed decisions about where they should, and should not, travel.

“That said, the addition of Chile on the travel corridor list gives us and our LATA members confidence in the recovery of the Latin American tourism sector and demonstrates that countries in Latin America are managing the pandemic effectively.

“We advise those looking to plan a trip to Chile to review the FCO advice and consult their tour operator partner to double check entry requirements.”

Miguel Purcell, managing director of Tierra Hotels, said: “We are very happy with this news, since the tourism sector has been paralysed for many months.

“This is the first step to recover our activity and we hope to continue advancing in this direction. We are prepared to receive tourists safely, respecting all measures to protect the health of our guests and collaborators. We know that tourists, both Chilean and foreign, want to travel again and connect with nature, so we are happy to receive them in our hotels and show them Chile´s wonderful landscapes.”

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