Chilean tourism braces for losses amid unrest

SANTIAGO - Chile's tourism sector expects to see a whopping 38.2-percent plunge in the number of visitors during its annual peak tourist season between December and March, an industry group said on Monday.

The National Federation of Tourism Companies (Fedetur) blamed the drop on Chile's social and political unrest, and on the economic crisis gripping Argentina, its main source of tourists.

Fedetur expects just over 1.28 million foreign visitors over the four-month period, the lowest figure since the global financial crisis dented tourism in 2009-2010.

In the past five high seasons, Argentina has ranked as Chile's No 1 source of visitors (6.26 million), followed by Bolivia (918,578), Brazil (750,750), Peru (701,982) and the United States (505,106).