Pucón : top destination within Chile!, and Chile : Virtuoso Top 10 most popular Travel choice!

What amazing accolades that have emerged during the first couple of months of 2016!

These two awards come from very different markets, but both prove that Pucón, and Chile, are doing something right!

Pucón came out top in the Trivago National Ranking of Online Reputation; and Chile was awarded position # 9 in the Top 10 most popular travel destinations to date in 2016 by the prestigious Virtuoso Travel Network.

The online reputation results from Trivago are significant because they are fully transparent. This international hotel cost comparison site accesses the millions of reviews that are available across all OTAs (online travel sites). They then run the results for each destination through an independent index called tRI®, which then calculates ratings based on those reviews. With 80 million visitors per month accessing the Trivago website it is great place to be shouting that Pucón is the # 1 destination in Chile!!

Coming in a close 4th was Villarrica too, just 25 minutes from Pucón. And as if that wasn’t enough, the actual region of the Araucanía, where both towns are located, was placed 2nd in the regional listings after the O´Higgins region where all those wonderful vineyards are located.

Next! The Virtuoso results. Virtuoso is a luxury travel network whose members are handpicked. Over 11,000 top class travel advisors create tailored itineraries for these members who have preferential access to more than 1,700 products across the globe.

Chile, and neighboring Argentina, made it into the Virtuoso top 10 preferred destinations for the first quarter of 2016. Virtuoso’s clients named excellent food reputation, great wines, rich history and landscape diversity as their reasons for choosing these southern cone countries.

Selling not only luxury, Virtuoso herald destinations that offer experiential travel. Chile is definitely one of those! From adrenaline adventure activities and wilderness hikes and camping, to gourmet food classes and exquisite wine tastings, there is something available for everyone. The term “luxury” has been redefined in today’s world where silence punctuated with birdsong and breathing in fresh air with a perfect mountain backdrop are deemed luxurious experiences to many.

In additional confirmation that many US visitors are choosing to visit Chile, LanChile recently announced a direct Santiago – Los Angeles route three times a week from October 2016 onwards. Tickets are already on sale!

International tourist arrivals to Chile grew by 32% during the first fortnight of February 2016 in comparison with February 2015. The first fortnight of January also enjoyed a 27% increase. The high value of the dollar has made Chile a much more attractive destination recently. Also, governmental investment in tourism has increased from US$ 11 million in 2014, to US$ 17 million in 2016 and project US$ 23 million for 2018. This indicates confidence that the tourism sector is not only significant, but growing.*

The political shift in Argentina has also positively affected tourism arrivals from our neighboring country. The end of the imposed dollar clamp (cepo cambiario) implemented by the new president Mauricio Macri has quickly and effectively facilitated TransAndean movement. This resulted in a 62% increase* in the number of Argentines crossing into Chile during the first two weeks of February in comparison with the same period last year.

So, all in all. Chile is the place to be! It is no longer recommended just by those of us who live here and have always sung its praises. It is official! High end Virtuoso clients are picking us over other options, Chileans themselves have rated Pucón as their top destination at national level, and as for Argentines, well, they just love hopping over the border and hanging out at their favorite spots here in Chile!

We invite you to visit soon and breathe some of that luxurious fresh mountain air for yourself whilst taking in the setting sun over Lake Villarrica right here in Pucón. A delightful experience wherever you do that from in Pucón, but at Lake Lodge you can enjoy it all from your own private terrace.

We look forward to welcoming you to our award winning Pucón and Chile!