VALPARAISO, Chile, May 25 (Xinhua -- Four Alliance countries, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, are seeking to increase tourists from China, said Chile's Minister of Economy and Tourism, Luis Felipe Cespedes, during the inauguration of the Pacific Alliance's IV Tourism Summit.
This event gathers executives and officials from the four Alliance countries, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, as well as around 250 tour operators and tourism companies, including from China.
Established in 2012, the Pacific Alliance is a trade bloc uniting these four Latin American nations that border the Pacific Ocean.
Cespedes explained to the audience that the Alliance's tourism diversity could attract tourists from China in a far more significant way.
"A tourist coming from Asia does not only to Chile, they want to go to other countries in the region. For this reason, strengthening tourism bonds between the countries of the Pacific Alliance increases the possibilities of attracting more tourists," he said.
He added that the Chinese market offered very high growth opportunities, given the fact that the number of Chinese tourists in Chile is rising, as well as in Mexico, Peru and Colombia.
Between January and April 2017, 10,997 Chinese tourists arrived in Chile, a 50.8 percent increase year-on-year.
Cespedes also said that increased tourism would lead to increased job growth and more development for small and medium enterprises.
The tour operators from the four Alliance countries have already agreed to combine their operations to encourage more Chinese tourists to visit all four members of the bloc.
This is the first year that Chinese and American tour operators, offering Latin American packages to Chinese tourists, according to the Chilean Minister of Economy.
