These are the economic benefits of the tourism reactivation project

Tourism is key to the Chilean economy. That is why the Government has decided to present a bill to reactivate this important sector, through a series of economic benefits for those who visit our country. 

Although many sector indicators have shown recovery to pre-pandemic levels, there is still a considerable gap in inbound tourism. The arrival of foreign tourists registered a decrease of 17.4% at the end of 2023 compared to 2019 levels. Despite this decrease, the total foreign exchange generated by tourism in 2023 exceeded US$13 billion, higher than the amounts recorded before the pandemic. 

During the December 2023 – February 2024 moving quarter, 642,963 people were registered as employed in activities characteristic of tourism. This is an increase of 3.7% over the same period of the previous year, and a decrease of only 0.7% compared to 2019. 

Details of the bill to reactivate tourism 

The bill includes three measures that are together expected to directly and significantly boost the tourism sector, with important effects on other economic sectors connected to tourism, such as food and commerce. 

VAT refund to foreign tourists for goods purchased in Chile 

The main goal of this measure is to contribute to attracting tourists to Chile in the international context. Currently, around 15% of the spending made by tourists in the national territory corresponds to goods for personal use or consumption. 

With this measure, the majority of spending – more than 60% on average – by foreign tourists in Chile will be exempt from VAT in practice. Other significant tourist expenses are already exempt, including passenger transportation and lodging services, which are considered service exports. 

There will be a global minimum amount of 3 UF (currently US$116) from which tourists can request this benefit. 

Increase in public resources for tourism promotion in Chile 

The main aim of this measure is to increase the arrival of foreign tourists to Chile. This will be achieved thanks to greater investment in promoting tourism throughout the world. The activities that will be designed to promote tourism will be the result of collaborative work between the public and private sectors. 

Tourism trade associations will be able to participate directly in developing marketing plans and actions to implement them. It is estimated that this measure will attract an additional one million tourists to Chile per year, helping to recover and even exceed the levels of foreign tourism observed before the pandemic. 

Resources to promote international tourism will be increased by a total of US$10 million per year, more than doubling the resources that the country currently invests. Investment in promoting international tourism will thus reach US$20 million annually. 

VAT refund to promote foreign audio-visual productions in Chile 

This measure seeks to position Chile as an attractive place for foreign audio-visual productions, including short films, documentaries, series and movies. 

More productions, in frequency and amount, will contribute to the short, medium and long-term development of Chile in at least two areas. On the one hand, it will promote the domestic audio-visual industry, which could increase collaborations with international productions. On the other, it will increase the attraction of the country to tourists. 

The development of foreign audio-visual productions in Chile will also promote our local heritage to the rest of the world.