Leisure-tourism and amenity migration: transformations observed in the semiarid mountain region of Northern Chile

ABSTRACT

In the last years, the mountain regions of Chile have started to be perceived as a destination for leisure-tourism activities and the development of amenity migration processes. Through semi-structured interviews and meetings conducted among key actors, locals and migrants, this work examines how the local community perceives the main consequences that current leisure-tourism and/or amenity migration processes have started to create in four local communes in the semi-arid region from the North of Chile. While local inhabitants acknowledge the development opportunities these processes entail, they are also starting to perceive effects on the identity of their communities as well as disparities, both in terms of territory and local governance. Studying the consequences of these processes may promote mitigation or adaptation measures to reduce the number of new conflicts and strengthen solidarity, both socially and territorially.

KEYWORDS:

• Mountains
• territories
• tourism impacts
• resident perception
• cultural change

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (FONDECYT) (grant number 11121323) and Dirección de Investigación de la Vicerrectoría de Investigación, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUENTE UC), 2015 (grant number P1711/2017).