The Chile Convention Bureau Association informs its members, associations, collaborators and all those institutions related to the national and international MICE industry of the following:
The country’s chief destinations for national and international events, congresses, conventions and tradeshows, such as the cities of La Serena, Viña del Mar, Santiago, and Puerto Varas, are currently functioning normally, with the all services required for the successful organization and staging of any event.
Santiago International Airport has been operating smoothly since 3 March 2010, receiving national and international flights. The airlines LAN, Air Canada, Delta Airlines and American Airlines have all resumed normal operations with the city’s airport.
More than 90% of Chile’s hotel bed spaces are currently available throughout the country, and the country’s convention centres are all operational and ready to host scheduled international congresses and tradeshows.
In all the aforementioned cities, public transport, telecommunications, electricity, banks, bureaux de change, shopping centres, boutiques, bars and supermarkets are all functioning normally or open for business as usual. Likewise, none of the ski stations close to Santiago, or, for that matter, in any other region of Chile, have been damaged, and all are preparing for the winter season in the Southern Hemisphere.
For the moment, it can be said that all Chile’s main tourist attractions have remained intact, including San Pedro de Atacama, Easter Island, the Lake and Volcano District, Torres del Paine and the Glaciers, and that all tourist services are functioning normally.
The Chile Convention Bureau Association would like to make it known that the country is still one of the best destinations in Latin America for international events, congresses, conventions and tradeshows. International events scheduled to be held in Chile during 2010 include FIDAE 2010 (Santiago, March 2010), EXPOMIN (Santiago, April 2010), Pan-American Rheumatology Congress PANLAR (Santiago, April 2010), World Congress of Occupational Therapists WFOT (Santiago, May 2010), Latin American Diabetes Congress ALAD (Santiago, November 2010), Latin American Genetics Congress (Viña del Mar, October 2010), 10th Latin American Botanical Congress (La Serena, October 2010), AQUA SUR (Puerto Montt-Puerto Varas, October 2010) among other, a year in which Chile commemorates is bicentenary.
