Keywords

1 Introduction

Tourism in protected areas (PAs) has unique characteristics that allow it to contribute to biodiversity conservation, sustainability, and socioeconomic development of local communities, diversifying their economies and enhancing their cultural authenticity [1]. The opportunities and challenges of tourism in PAs center on maximizing these benefits and minimizing negative environmental and social impacts because of poor management [2]. Thus, tourism may be a key dimension for achieving conservation objectives and compliance with PA management standards [3]. Several authors have assessed the environmental impacts of tourism in PAs [4, 5] and suggested the application of management standards to address them [6]. Other authors point to the need to quantify the economic effects of tourism in PAs [7] and to estimate the impact on the well-being of local communities [1]; in particular for gateway communities, which are defined as those located near or at an entrance to a PA, and that provide cultural ecosystem goods and services, including tourism and recreation [8, 9].

The management of tourism within PAs has also been the subject of research, where two major models have been identified: one where the PA authority uses its own personnel and facilities to finance and provide tourism services within the area, and the other, where the PA authority contracts with one or several external entities that provide services under different legal arrangements (concessions, licenses, permits) [10]. The latter model requires a well-defined policy that ensures the benefits of tourism for conservation and local development [11].

Tourism in PAs in Chile has been evaluated regarding supply trends, demand [12], and the role of gateway communities for PA management and governance [13]. However, the evaluation of tourism impacts on natural ecosystems [14] and the estimation of its economic contribution have been less studied [15, 16].

Between Reloncaví Sound and the Diego Ramírez islands (Chilean Patagonia, 41° 42′ S 73° 02′ W; 56° 29′ S 68° 44′ W), different authors have identified: (i) conservation and enhancement of local heritage and opportunities for scientific tourism [17–21]; (ii) examined the impacts of tourism on biodiversity on PAs [14, 22]; (iii) developed public use planning models to minimize the different impacts of tourism [23]. The contribution of tourism to conservation and local welfare has been reviewed [24, 25], concluding that a territorial imaginary has emerged that values tourism and nature protection and is the result of centrally driven public policies [26]. The economic effects of tourism on PAs and gateway communities are much less studied, with some estimates based on the willingness to pay methodology [27, 28] and the economic contribution of cruise ship tourism [29].

Despite the above, a comprehensive analysis that addresses the relationship of tourism in PAs to conservation and gateway communities has not been published for Chile [30], except for the study by Muñoz and Torres [31], who examined aspects of connectivity, territorial openness, and the formation of a nature tourism destination for the Aysén Region. However, there is a lack of analysis with a systematic approach to the impacts of tourism on Chilean Patagonia, including variables such as supply, demand, and promotion of the sector, which would reveal the real role of the areas of the SNASPE system in Patagonian tourism development.

2 Scope and Objectives

In this chapter we analyze the distribution of tourism supply and demand, examining the economic contributions, environmental effects, and trends in Chilean Patagonia in relation to the SNASPE, and make recommendations about the present and future role of these protected areas in Chile’s Patagonian tourism.

3 Methods

The study area is Chilean Patagonia, in particular the National Protected Wild Areas (NPWA) that comprise the SNASPE, within the regions of Los Lagos (41° 28′ 18″ S; 72° 56′ 12″ W), Aysén (45° 34′ 12″ S; 72° 3′ 58″ W), Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica (53° 9′ 45″ S; 70° 55′ 21″ W). Information to conduct the analyses was obtained from official documents and technical reports (Table 1). Relevant publications in mainstream journals and gray literature were consulted for the analysis of current tourism development and trends. National and regional policy tools were reviewed to learn about public intervention to promote tourism, systematizing those that mentioned—with a variety of key concepts—tourism development in the NPWA.

Table 1 Sources consulted for the analysis of the supply and demand of tourism services in Chilean Patagonia (own elaboration)
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To identify gateway communities linked to the NPWA, the distribution of tourism supply was analyzed based on the number of tourism service providers per locality and registered with the National Tourism Service (in Spanish Servicio Nacional de Turismo, SERNATUR). These services include lodging, food, travel agencies, adventure tourism, and tour guides. The service providers were grouped by locality and linked to the 12 tourist destinations in Chilean Patagonia and the NPWA associated with each destination (Table 3). The relationship between tourism development and the management of the NPWA was evaluated based on the concentration of supply per locality (number of providers), the level of tourism development of the destination, and the level of management of the areas.Footnote 1 The supply within the NPWA was studied based on data from the National Forestry Corporation (in Spanish Corporación Nacional Forestal, CONAF), identifying ecotourism concessions and permits and the economic income generated by concession contracts and entrance fees.

There is national information on tourism demand; however, this information is limited at the regional level and is distributed across various technical documents (Table 1). To examine the characteristics of this demand, annual information was systematized regionally for the NPWA according to CONAF statistics. Finally, the economic, social, and environmental impacts of tourism in Patagonia’s NPWA are presented and development trends are addressed.

The results presented below have some limitations, mainly due to the lack of a complete and systematic database. For example, the data on tourism supply are based on official information, without reflecting the existence of an informal supply. A similar situation occurs with demand in NPWA, whose analysis is based only on CONAF records. Despite the importance of private conservation in Chilean Patagonia, this article focuses only on NPWA, given the lack of available data for analysis.

A photo of a team of hikers trekking along a trail enveloped by shrubbery, with towering mountains ahead.

Los Cuernos viewpoint route, Torres del Paine, Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica Region. Photograph by Jorge López

4 Results

Tourism has grown significantly in Chile during the last decades, driven in part by an increased interest of tourism demand in learning about natural attractions in the NPWA [12, 16]. About 50% of the territory of Chilean Patagonia is protected by the SNASPE [46] propitiating a wide range of tourism activities [17]. This has led to a doubling of the number of tourists that have visited these areas in a decade [12], making tourism in the NPWA a relevant economic sector with great growth potential [27, 47].

4.1 Public Intervention Framework for the Promotion of Nature-Based Tourism

The growth of tourism in the NPWA can be explained by the multiple state policies that have explicitly recognized the opportunities of these areas for tourism promotion and development (Table 2). The Undersecretariat of Tourism has developed national development plans and programs that address these opportunities, while for Patagonia, regional governments have prioritized special interest tourism and recognized the relevance of NPWA through regional innovation and tourism strategies and plans.

Table 2 Tourism development instruments (own elaboration)
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Table 3 Tourism development and NPWA in Chilean Patagonia (Prepared by the authors based on Subsecretaría de Turismo, 2019 and Servicio Nacional de Turismo [48]; Tacón et al. [46])
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The analysis of development instruments positions tourism in the NPWA as an axis of public investment in the activity. This can be seen in Chilean Patagonia in the declaration of seven Zones of Tourist Interest (in Spanish ZOIT) structured around the NPWA, where public–private governance is formed for the execution of plans with public financing. This has also translated into development and investment strategies that, with financing from the National Regional Development Fund, Strategic Programs of the Development Corporation, and Special Development Plans for Extreme Zones, have promoted actions to improve supply, investment in enabling infrastructure in the NPWA and marketing.

4.2 Characterization of Tourism Supply

The development of tourism in Chilean Patagonia can be explained by a series of factors related to its isolation and the presence of urban centers that determine accessibility. The cities of Puerto Montt, Coyhaique, and Punta Arenas provide access and connectivity to the territory, acting as distribution centers and articulating tourist flows to and from Patagonia. This supply is mostly linked around the Southern Highway (in Spanish Carretera Austral), which acts as the backbone of tourism development, connecting small towns (hereinafter gateway communities) that concentrate a varied tourist offer (Fig. 1). There are also maritime routes for cruise ship tourism.

Fig. 1
A map of Patagonia highlights the protected areas, registry of tourist service providers of SERNATUR, regional capital, provincial capital, carretera austral, and administrative boundaries. An inset globe features South America and marks the study area.

Tourism development in Chilean Patagonia around NPWA (prepared by the authors based on: Subsecretary of Tourism, 2018 (in Spanish Subsecretaría de Turismo [49]) and National Tourism Service, 2019 (in Spanish Servicio Nacional de Turismo [48])

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The characteristics and distribution of tourism offer are heterogeneous in Patagonia. There is greater spatial distribution in destinations in the regions of Los Lagos and Aysén, where services, which differ in number and concentration, are distributed among various localities. In contrast, the Magallanes Region concentrates the supply mostly in two tourist centers, associated with two main destinations: Torres del Paine and the Strait of Magellan. A detailed analysis of the relationship with the NPWA and tourism development is presented in Table 3.

The largest number of services are found in the Torres del Paine National Park (NP), Coyhaique-Puerto Aysén and Estrecho de Magallanes destinations, concentrated in the cities of Puerto Natales, Coyhaique, and Punta Arenas, respectively. Puerto Natales is a gateway community for the activities that take place in Torres del Paine NP, while Punta Arenas and Coyhaique act as distribution centers for tourism flows to the NPWA in their respective areas of influence. Something similar occurs with the destination of Puerto Montt. Other important destinations whose gateway communities are located along the Carretera Austral are: Chelenko (Puerto Río Tranquilo and Chile Chico), Carretera Austral southern section (Futaleufú and Chaitén), Carretera Austral-Queulat, Los Glaciares, and Carretera Austral northern section.

Lodging predominates the supply of services by destination, followed significantly by the collection of travel agencies, adventure tourism, and tour guides. The latter are of great relevance and show that outdoor activities in the NPWA are a central element of the supply. A more explicit relationship between level of tourism development and the NPWA emerges from the crossing of three variables that seem to be directly related: concentration of supply, level of tourism development of the destination, and the level of management of the NPWA (Table 3). One example is the gateway community of Puerto Natales, which concentrates the largest number of registered service providers in Chilean Patagonia, belonging to the best-positioned destination in the territory (level of development: Consolidated) and supporting the development of activities in Torres del Paine NP and Cueva del Milodón National Monument (NM), with Consolidated and Intermediate management levels, respectively.

At the other extreme, there are tourist destinations associated with the NPWA that are in an incipient condition, such as the gateway community of Puerto Eden (without official registration of service providers), with a Potential level of tourism development and close to Bernardo O’Higgins NP with a Basic management level. An additional important form of tourism is cruise ships and passenger maritime transport that travel through the SNASPE to visit its attractions as part of the navigation routes (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2
A map of Patagonia highlights the disembarkation, cruise ship routes name or company, mixed cruise and commercial routes, protected areas, and administrative boundaries. An inset globe features South America and marks the study area.

Tourist navigation routes in Chilean Patagonia (own elaboration)

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Three types of routes are identified with little information and data available: (i) those operated by cruise ships with a long history (e.g. Laguna San Rafael, Skorpios); (ii) those of a mixed nature that serve to connect the territory and are used by tourists who travel independently (e.g. Tortel-Puerto Natales ferry); (iii) those operated by local agents who navigate the NPWA. Mixed routes predominate in northern Patagonia, connecting localities and NPWA as an alternative to Carretera Austral, while routes associated with cruise ships are mostly centered in Magallanes, with tourist routes associated with Alberto de Agostini NP and Cape Horn NP predominating.

4.3 Tourists Offer in the NPWA

Tourism development in Chilean Patagonia exists not only in the gateway communities near the NPWA, but also within the protected areas themselves. In some cases, this development is associated with the enhancement of value through the construction of enabling infrastructure for the development of activities (trails, viewpoints), while in others it has been accompanied by the operation of services granted to third parties through the system of tourism concessions (Table 4).

Table 4 Third-party tourism operations in NPWA in Chilean Patagonia (Prepared by authors based on CONAF personal communicationsFootnote

Personal communications: W. Rubilar, November, 5, 2019; M. Ruiz, October, 28, 2019; C. Hochstetter, 6 November, 2019.

)
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Thirty-seven tourism services operated by third parties were identified in the NPWA, concentrated in the regions of Aysén and Magallanes. Short-term operating permits are predominant for providing transportation and tour guide services in national parks in Aysén, while in Magallanes, long-term concessions are granted for the operation of lodging and gastronomic services. CONAF also identifies service providers that operate without permits or concessions.

4.4 Tourism Demand in ASPE of Chilean Patagonia

Tourism demand in Chilean Patagonia has followed the national trend. The number of foreign tourists entering through border crossings alone doubled in the last 10 years, while the growth rate of visits to the NPWA increased by 9% annually for the same period. Patagonia’s NPWA received a total of 751,000 visits (domestic and foreign) in 2019, representing 20% of the national total of visits recorded by CONAF. The most visited areas in Patagonia were Torres del Paine NP and MN Cueva del Milodón (40 and 20%, respectively of the total visits to the Patagonian NPWA). The rest of the areas receive a considerably lower percentage of visits (around 3% of the total), with Queulat NP, Alerce Andino and Los Pingüinos NP being slightly different (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3
A map of Patagonia highlights the protected areas, the number of visitors in 2019, and the administrative boundaries. An inset globe features South America and marks the study area.

Visitation in NPWA in Chilean Patagonia (own elaboration based on [50])

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The records show that the tourist profile is mainly national, apart from the Magallanes Region where foreigners predominate, which is mainly explained by the influence of Torres del Paine NP (>60% international visitors). The age group varies between 25 and 50 years, with a length of stay in the destinations that fluctuates between 1 and 5 days. The exception is Cape Horn, where the average stay is 7.1 days, due to the conditions of access to the destination. Tourist spending is also heterogeneous and fluctuates according to nationality and age group, with foreigners over 40 years of age spending the most and nationals under 30 years of age spending the least.

4.5 Impacts of Tourism Linked to NPWA in Chilean Patagonia

The economic contribution of tourism to the gateway communities and the SNASPE has not been quantified in depth for Chilean Patagonia. There are estimates based on the willingness to pay methodology [28], as well as a CONAF study to measure this contribution based on the Transbank system in Torres del Paine NP. The scope of the latter research cannot be analyzed, as it is not available. It is also difficult to analyze the SNASPE’s income due to the lack of systematic data. However, recent CONAF reports show that in 2017 the Magallanes Region contributed about 4,400 million Chilean pesos (CLP) (ca. US$ 6.2 millionFootnote 3) to the SNASPE, which is equivalent to 40% of the total income of the system. Of this amount, 90% corresponds to income from entrance fees and 10% from concession contracts in Torres del Paine NP and Cueva del Milodón NM. The Aysén Region has shown a significant increase in revenues, from CLP 100 million in 2016 to CLP 200 million in 2017, which is mainly explained by the increase in visitors to Queulat NP. Thus, the contribution of this region to tourism is half of what Magallanes contributes from concessions alone (Fig. 2). Despite its growth potential, there is little data on demand and economic contribution to SNASPE from cruise tourism. Kirk et al. [29] studied the case of the Cabo de Hornos Biosphere Reserve and estimated a contribution of US$1 million annually.

The contribution to local development has also been addressed, although with rather qualitative approaches. Vela-Ruiz and Delgado [51], Rozzi et al. [20], Bourlon and Mao [19], Bourlon [18], and Bórquez et al. [17] investigated the role of tourism in local development and its possible contributions, while Núñez et al. [26], Blair et al. [24], and Zorondo-Rodríguez et al. [25], did this based on sociocultural impacts. Perception studies on the benefits of NPWA in Puerto Natales and Puerto Eden show recognition of the economic benefits for tourism, local development, and employment for women [52]. The seasonality of the activity has been identified as a negative impact of tourism [53], concluding that the construction of hotels within the NWPAs decreases the benefits for the community. In relation to environmental contributions, local inhabitants perceive a greater appreciation of the natural and cultural heritage of the environment that contributes to greater protection of nature [52]. However, the direct environmental impacts of tourism in NPWA in Patagonia have rarely been quantified. Most studies focus on Torres del Paine NP, where impacts generated by trails and informal camping areas have been identified [14, 54], with fires and soil erosion being important drivers of the loss of the structure of the landscape [14, 54] and native vegetation [55, 56]. This is more critical given the lack of planning instruments in NPWA, many of which do not have management and public use plans despite receiving tourists [23].

5 Discussion

Thousands of people have been motivated to visit Chilean Patagonia’s NPWA in accordance with global trends in nature-based tourism development [1, 57]. These areas host a wide range of activities that motivate visitation, driving the emergence of tourism services in neighboring localities that act as gateway communities, located at the NPWA public access points (Fig. 1). This symbiotic relationship between NPWA, tourism and local communities can be illustrated in Torres del Paine NP, where there is a direct link between the concentration of supply in the gateway community of Puerto Natales, the destination’s high level of tourism development and the park’s higher level of management. However, it is not possible to establish with precision if the level of management of the NPWA is a consequence of the higher pressure from tourism use or if conversely, the tourism development of the gateway community is explained by the level of tourism development within the NPWA.

A relevant aspect is related to the heterogeneous distribution of gateway communities in Chilean Patagonia. While some areas receive a high level of visitation and have gateway communities that offer a significant number of services, there are others with similar levels of accessibility that have a low level of supply and visitation (Fig. 1), which could indicate the lack of a public policy to guide the development of tourism at the territorial level.

Tourism supply is also developed within the NPWA. In accordance with the models proposed by Spenceley et al. [10], two opposing models can be identified in Chilean Patagonia, which arise from the system of tourism concessions. This could account for the lack of a clearly defined policy that, coupled with CONAF’s limited capacity to oversee unauthorized operations, constitute a risk to achieving tourism conservation objectives. Although there are no specific studies that have measured the impacts of the two models in Patagonia, the international trend suggests abandoning models of intensive development within the NPWA and proposes promoting the development of supply within gateway communities [10].

Although information on tourism in Chilean Patagonia is limited, recent data show a sustained growth in the number of tourists visiting the NPWA, accounting for nearly 20% of the national total, mostly in Torres del Paine NP. One type of tourism that is growing rapidly is cruises, where boats of different types and sizes travel through the NPWA to visit their attractions. Unfortunately, information on supply, demand, points of visitation, and impacts generated by these cruises in the NPWA is practically non-existent. This growth of the tourism sector increases the use pressures on NPWA, which in the absence of planning could increase impacts and reduce benefits [6]. The little research in Chilean Patagonia reports on these impacts and suggests paying more attention to the effects on soil, biodiversity loss, and hazard control, agreeing on the importance of measuring and monitoring the environmental impacts of tourism [2] and the need to adopt management standards [6]. This is particularly important because many NPWA do not have management and public use plans in place [23].

Although tourism emerges as a financial opportunity for the conservation and revitalization of economies in gateway communities [3], no studies quantifying these benefits have been identified in Chilean Patagonia. The data provided by CONAF in terms of entry fees and concessions in 2017 account for this contribution to SNASPE and demonstrate that the financing of the areas rests significantly on income derived from tourism. However, this could act as a perverse incentive to increase pressure on the areas. A similar situation occurs with the economic contributions to the gateway communities, where apart from a few specific cases, the effect of tourism on employment, income, and improvement in the quality of life of the inhabitants has not been estimated. Global studies have indicated that tourism could bring about changes in the socio-productive patterns of a community, generating economic dependence on the sector, which is why it is necessary to study these impacts further.

Finally, the growth of the tourism sector is framed within multiple sectorial policies that have placed emphasis on promoting tourism in the NPWA in Chilean Patagonia but have omitted essential aspects such as planning and mitigation of its impacts. Nature tourism must recognize that the main heritage of the sector is in the NPWA and their people, so contributing to and guaranteeing the objectives of conservation and local wellbeing is fundamental to the viability of the activity.

6 Conclusions and Recommendations

The synthesis presented in this chapter is the first systematic effort to examine the role of NPWA in tourism in Chilean Patagonia. Sectoral instruments have injected resources into the NPWA, bringing with them the urgent need to coordinate public–private investment to improve the areas’ management, ensuring the sustainability of the natural and cultural heritage. The levels of tourism development associated with the NPWA appear to be mediated by the concentration of tourism services in gateway communities, by areas’ level of management, and the stage of tourism development of the destination in which they are located. However, tourism development is currently concentrated in very few NPWA in Patagonia, reflecting the lack of a public policy to guide territorial tourism development.

There are two development models and several tourism concession systems operating in parallel within the areas, reflecting the lack of a clear policy to promote ecotourism in the SNASPE. Finally, given the growing tourism demand in Patagonia’s NPWA, the analysis shows the need to quantify the direct economic and environmental impacts of tourism. This is critical, given that the effect of tourism on biodiversity in the NPWA is currently unknown or has not been measured. Based on the above, we present the following recommendations:

  • Given the speed of tourism growth in Chilean Patagonia, it is recommended that progress be made in the adoption of management standards in the NPWA, guaranteeing the existence of management and public use plans as an enabling condition for tourism development. This is the only way to design development strategies focused on mitigating negative impacts and dispersing pressures, and to advance in a model that promotes economic benefits in gateway communities and strengthens the link between local inhabitants and the NPWA.

  • The collection of visitor fees should be improved, and further analysis should be carried out of the concession systems currently operating in the SNASPE in order to improve their coordination. CONAF should have a well-defined policy for ecotourism development in the SNASPE, with better orientation of state and private investments. It is recommended that progress be made in defining a single concession mechanism based on a development model that benefits the gateway communities.

  • There should be a focus on achieving a stable financing system for the SNASPE that creates appropriate incentives for its continuous improvement as a priority matter, together with the establishment of annual budgets that ensure a minimum floor for all NPWA and new revenue collection systems that include incentives for decentralized creative management, reducing the pressure for income derived from tourism.

  • Investment in adapting and applying methodologies that allow for the systematic measurement and monitoring of the environmental impacts of tourism (e.g. biodiversity, ecosystem services) and the quantification of the contribution of visitation to NWPAs on local economies is a priority, the latter in order to have clarity regarding the return on state investment in each NPWA. Based on international experience, it is expected that investment in NPWA will be efficient and have a high impact in relation to other fiscal expenditures, and there are many validated methodologies for this purpose. However, limitations in local economic statistics present significant obstacles to their application. A joint investment by state actors and universities is recommended to generate a cost-effective methodology that can be replicated periodically for Chilean Patagonia.