In the first half of 2012, more than 1,850,000 international travelers stood on Chilean soil. This brings tourism in Chile up 15% compared to the same period last year, according to the country´s leading tourism office, SERNATUR.

Among the ranks of visitors to Chile, Argentina represented the highest percentage of tourists at 42%, or 780,000 individuals, followed by Peru and Brazil with 9.6% each and Bolivia with 9.2%. These numbers also represent significant growth from last year within each nationality. Brazilian tourism in Chile, for example, has increased 27% since 2011.  Despite the economic unrest in Europe and North America, even these markets showed slow but steady growth in Chilean tourism with a 5.1% and 3.1% increase, respectively.