The Tourism and the Beginnings of an Industry in Chile (1910-1950)

Abstract

This article reconstructs in an exploratory way the statistical background of the development of tourism in Chile in the first decades of the twentieth century that allows to dimension its scope as an important economic activity. It is assumed that historical studies on the subject have privileged socio-cultural approaches to analyze the tourist phenomenon, often assuming the existence of a tourist offer and demand, a policy on the subject and an attractive labor market. Through the collection of information from tourist guides and brochures, laws and regulations, statistical yearbooks, among others, it seeks to measure the real scope of tourism as an economic activity, which made the early formulation of a tourism promotion policy possible by the Chilean State since the late 1920s.