Promotion of Tourism Development

As part of its commitment to the Tarapacá Region, Collahuasi has a particular interest in projects to restore or rebuild natural areas for the development of productive activities that create jobs and, especially, tourism.  

These initiatives include:

• Inauguration of the first Andean Plateau Educational Shelter. Officially launched in January 2009, the Taypi Samañ Uta shelter (or “House of Rest in the Middle of the Place” in Aymara) is located in the lake of the Huasco Salt Flat, 60 km east of Pica and 174 km east of Iquique. This mystic refuge offers high-standard lodgings to visitors while conserving the area’s spirit and identity. Built by Collahuasi and originally an exploration camp, it can provide accommodation for 30 people, with an open-air amphitheatre for events and ceremonies, and is the only establishment of its type in Chile’s Andean plateau. It is managed by Pedro Lucas and his family who are of Aymara descent and were for many years the place’s only permanent inhabitants.

• ConCiencia 2009. This tourism-educational project, developed and promoted by Collahuasi, seeks to create Chile’s first real experience in this branch of special interest tourism, used in many countries as a complement to formal education. It involves the organisation of scientific-educational workshops, initially in the Taypi Samañ Uta shelter in the Huasco Lake, in which, during a three-day, two-night visit, secondary pupils from state and private schools in the Tarapacá Region can share an intensive educational experience with the country’s best scientific exponents and environmental teachers from different disciplines. Implementation of the project began in May 2009 with excellent results as demonstrated by the more than 150 people, including pupils and teachers from 18 schools in the region, who have participated in its activities.

• Restoration of Pintados Geoglyphs. Located in the Pampa del Tamarugal National Reserve, these geoglyphs are one of the most popular tourist and heritage sites of the Tarapacá Region. In 2008, under an agreement with the National Forestry Service (CONAF), Collahuasi began their restoration in an initiative that seeks to strengthen their position as an important attraction in order to diversify tourism and boost associated economic activities.