O W Wanderlust&Odysseys
T r a v e l Magazine
english version
1st Edition July 2015
Photo courtesy of Felipe Bustamante Parada
Introduction We begin this fabulous journey called “Wanderlust & Odysseys Travel Magazine� with a lot of optimism because it is considered as an original initiative that will captivate the interest of all companies that want to join us, so they can get specialised information about tourism in Chile, with articles about interesting destinies, and focused in highlighting their benefits and the peculiar things about each one of them so they can be added in specialised circuits, whether it is adventure tourism, heritage and historical places and gastronomy. We invite readers to travel through our pages and to allow free rein to the imagination generating initiatives target to the promotion of the Chilean wonders so it becomes a real window to the world.
4 |
CONTENTS
Contents Vj Travels Networks 6
Birds Chile 10
Guide “Chile Rural Tourism� 14
Cochamo 19
Frutillar 22
Puerto Varas 26
Natura Patagonia Hotel 32
Calbuco Photo contest winners IG Chile Lindo
36
40
| 5
6 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
VJ travel Networks
VJ Travel Networks :
NON STOP PASSAGEWAY TO PARTNERSHIP The wide connection to internet has given new opportunities to the Chilean tourism industry; it has also allowed companies to improve the use of their resources. The Chilean company VJ Travel Networks was born under the new concepts of networking and partnership and it is an online platform for tourism companies that provide greatest fluency and certainty when choosing the best business opportunity. The wide connection to internet has given new opportunities to the Chilean tourism industry; it has also allowed companies to improve the use of their resources. The Chilean company VJ Travel Networks was born under the new concepts of networking and partnership and it is an online platform for tourism companies that provide greatest fluency and certainty when choosing the best business opportunity. The long experience in the tourism field, and from different charges, gave Chistian von Johnn the chance to detect the lacking of a market which affects the good business ventures and the companies that fought to remain standing with the high promotion prices and with not many possibilities to interact abroad to generate new businesses. Between 2007 and 2011 he began the voyage as Operation Manager of a Canadian Agency that transported 1500 passengers per year in our country. He travelled all over Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil looking for tourist services providers. Every time a problem arose, he looked for a fast solution using the internet or just the phone. As a co-founder of a tourist agency in Puerto Varas, he could face the flip side when facing the challenge of promoting a small company which involves high cost, difficulties in communication and the lack of contracts. So this is how the idea of creating a platform emerged. This platform is though a promotion channel among the tourist companies and as a constant filter of service searching engines. And the result?... A month after rolling the initiative online, VJ Travel Networks already had over 70 companies associated.
“Our strength is our business model based on publicity; this allows us to focus on partnership and the creation of networks. Also we are not middlemen so we do not charge commissions by businesses done. This lets us to have a wider scope and promote Chile as one in our company’s network with high standard services for the Chilean and the foreign tourists. The focus in partnership, both at a national and international level, opens the doors to an exchange of wonderful supplies and demands in the short term, and with competitive prices with other destinies” Christian von John, explains. How the benefits of networking are translated in the development of the tourism in Chile? Nowadays, in any seminar or conference you will repeatedly hear the terms of “Partnership” and “Networking”, and everybody will agree that it is necessary and good, but as soon as there is an old fashion mind, the decisions will still exclude people and enterprises so just a few are able to take the offer so they can earn more. This is changing given to the wide use of internet which allows the final customers to have a wide scope where to choose. Therefore, it is not necessary to cover everything in a market but it is better to concentrate in a specific target that is spread in several markets. VJ Travel Networks is creating this opportunity across a worldwide network of tourist companies that allows to focus the efforts to contact them and make business according to the existing offers and demands. According to this year projections, von Johnn highlights that the next challenge for VJ Travel Networks is to build a network from Arica to Punta Arenas, offering Chile as a destiny. “In this sense, together with Pro Chile we will create a visit agenda to bigger operators and tour operators from Brazil and Australia and, in this way, to star the interaction of the companies that offer services and demanding enterprises”. How does VJ Travel Networks work? It’s an online platform that has user accounts per company, by using a search engine anyone can find offers and demands so they can contact and make business.
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 7
How can companies get this account? It’s very easy to register in VJ Travel Networks, you just need to click on "Create a New Account" and then give the company information, where is located and the activities it does. Why having an account in VJ Travel? It’s useful for tourist companies alongside Chile and abroad so they can contact and make business. So when a company is interested in another one, it can “follow it” and get informed not only about what the other company does but also about news. How VJ Travel Networks helps people that with less internet knowledge? This is a friendly platform to the user. One of our goals is to improve in the webpage technology so the user can feel comfortable with it, and feel that he or she is evolving with us. In which stage is it? We are in the creating the offer stage, so that in our visit to Australia and Brazil we can create interest among the agencies that need services in Chile. What kind of enterprises can be part of VJ Travel Networks? The main idea is to cover all kind of enterprises related to Tourism, but at the beginning we started with hotels, bed and breakfast, tourist agencies, sending and receiving, adventure tourism, rent a car and tour operators, among others. Which are the main failures or obstacles that slow down tourism in our country? The fear that people have to internet when making business. Even though everybody understands that internet and the social networks are important for the development of tourism, there are companies that do not have their own webpage or do not answer their email, don’t even talk about social networks. If we compare when people used horseback riding to travel from Puerto Montt to Temuco. With the car invention, people could do the same trip ten times faster. Having a computer with internet connection and not knowing how to use it is like having a car parking outside your house without knowing how to drive.-
8 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
VJ Travel Networks
www.vjtravelnet.com
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 9
The agency Birds Chile is printing in the traditional tourism a more preservative and conservationist view of the habitat through a specialized offer of nature trips, interpretive walks, picture tours and birds observation expeditions.
10 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
REPORTAGE/Birds Chile
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 11
Birds Chile: THE NEW NATURALIST TRACE Born in Santiago in the breast on Italian immigrants, Raffaele Di Biase is a passionate of nature that since very young started going across Chile from the Atacama Desert to the Cape Horn. His studies in ornithology, zoology and botanic and his ability to speak several language, like English, Spanish and Italian made him a naturalist guide. Since 2007 he leads his own agency together with a professional team of guides specialized in nature. With headquarters in Puerto Varas, district of Los Lagos, he specialized in nature trips, interpretive walks, picture tours and birds observation expeditions which are the
12 |
foundation of his philosophy, the passion for the wild nature of the Patagonia and his wish of preserve it and share it. Apart of being an agency specialized in naturalist tourism, Birds Chile is registered in the National Tourism Service (Sernatur, for its mane in Spanish), and all its programs and tour guides are under the Conservation Through Travelling (CTT) mission, a project that supports the local communities and doers with information and knowledge so the local tourism could become a conservation channel of wildlife and habitat preservation.
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
/ Birds Chile
The reasons why to prefer Birds Chile: In his teamwork he has naturalist guides, bids and flora and fauna experts with quite wide years of experience guiding in the National Parks of Chile and Argentina, and he also has the WFiR certification, studies in bird observation and ornithology and the specialization in nature and wildlife topics which make that the visitor have a complete experience when it comes to enjoy the activity and the knowledge about the flora and fauna of every corner visited.
Passionate team highly involved with conservationist topics with a long experience guiding nature groups though South America. Birds Chile tourist programs consider out of the ordinary places and the circuits are carefully designed. The tour groups are small because the agency gives constant and customized attention to every visitor, and he also cares about the personal care of each person. Gives full information before the trip and during the tour. There are to the visitor disposition high quality teams, books and guides about birds sightseeing. The office assists in every aspect of the tour experience, and for solving all the questions of the visitor, his staff speaks different languages like English, German and Portuguese. www.birdschile.com
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 13
Rural Tourism Guide:
14 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
Rural Tourism Guide
As an excellent way to optimize resources and have a wider vision of the tourism business in the South of Chile, the agencies Petrel Tours and Turismo Pacìfico of the district of Los Lagos, join together under the new concept of partnership to develop a rural tourist guide with full information about the services that the district offers in this area and the possibility that many doers interact and play its cards. Turismo Pacífico and Petrel Tours agencies have develop this activity for over 20 years in the district of los Lagos. The enthusiasm of making an original project and the synergy between the two enable them to participate in a project of commercial alliance with INDAP to increase the quality of the Agricultural Tourism in the district of Los Lagos, bringing
about a guide on rural tourism with interesting and detailed information about the different activities done by other enterprises and local doers in this field. “When we awarded the Project of Commercial Alliance with INDAP to increase the quality of the Agro tourism in the district of Los Lagos – the only district of the country that has made projects of commercial alliance in this field – when we were told that we were two enterprises participating and I immediately thought that the best way to face this task should be as a team, because both synergies, each one view points and the optimization of the resources would lead us to make a better job with a wide vision of the tourist potential to develop” explains Valentina Ortúzar, Petrel Tours commercial manager.
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 15
In that regard, she points that one of the biggest obstacles to carry out projects in rural tourism is the lack of information. “ The guide fills an empty space in the district in regards of the shortage of data, therefore, it is pointed to show a big amount of agro tourism services providers spread in different areas, so they will be contact either in a direct way or through operators, which will afford them to have a commercialization channel and an arrival, that without any help, it would be very hard to consolidate”. At the beginning of the project, the challenge for both companies was to work with an amount of doers independently, but as the times went by they realized that the best option was the partnership. “The ideas complemented more, it improved work, we expanded the contact network to support the project and communicate it. We optimized the resources in a hundred percent, which allowed us having better results than expected individually” Andrea Guerra, general manager of Turismo Pacifico, points . Among the main factors for this partnership to work among tour operators from different nature, Andrea Guerra says that the most valuable is being the experience of over 20 years working in the district. “We strengthened each other to transmit trust, transparency and security in the development of this project, which will help other initiatives to emerge”.
When it comes to the rural tourist guide she is emphatic to pint that it gives many important elements to the development of this kind of tourism in the district, in which she list the information gathering of all the available offer and the possibility
16 |
that this becomes into important promotion of the sector. “Each place and business person that appears here was visited by one of us, so we were involved in every detail to classify the offer. For doers it is an advertising way to promote their services and products, so that could be commercialized in a direct way or through our tourist operators”. In regards of the contribution that these kind of alliances brings to the development of tourism; Valentina Ortúzar says that it is an important way to increase the quality of the tourism of our country and that there is a bigger growth in the Agro tourism and in this way being a real contribution to the sustainable development. “Both companies are passionate about what we do and we care about contributing with sustainable development to tourism. We have large experience and knowledge, and we share the same vision about how to increase the quality level in the agro tourism, a work we do ourselves through field survey, generating trust, training and consulting theoretically and in practice, among many other innovative actions”. In the other hand, she says that those partnerships can foster the link between the private and public world even more, given that more projects are done in a more effective way, she adds. Putting the work and the public and private aims ahead towards the development of tourism is the key because tourism affects crosswise many areas of the economy”.
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
Rural Tourism Guide
Experience and High Quality
Andrea Guerra M.
General Manager Turismo Pacifico Ltda. Inbound Travel Operator Tourism Consulting
Since its beginning the Pacific Tourism Company has developed the receptive tourism in the South of Chile. The procedure they follow during the low season includes field trips to look for places and services to make new products. These products consist of sitting the communities up to promote its culture and the activities that mark a milestone and the richness to each place combining them with the natural attractions. Its expertise has let them to improve in a good way its specialties and have a professional team that permits them to give a high quality service.
The double nature of Pretel Tours The company has develop two areas: receptive tourism, that covers cruises in the city of Puerto Montt and tours that include different activities like rafting, canopy, sport fishing, picture tours to the Osorno volcano, culture and heritage tour, gastronomic tours, sailing and curanto, nature tours to national parks, among others. The other area
Valentina Ortuzar G.
Manager Petrel Tours Ltda Inbound and Outbound Travel Operator Tourism Consulting
developed is the tour operator which specialization are travels and abroad tourism, with tickets, package tours, cruises, congresses, fairs and many other destinations in the five continents.
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 17
Cocham贸 :
INMACULATE NATURE
Cochamo: Photo courtesy of Deisy Argel
18 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
Cochamo
Cochamó means “the union of two things” in Mapudungún. This is a Chilean town located southeast of Llanquihue, in the X District of Los Lagos in the north entrance of the Patagonia. In the middle of a daydream nature that is preserved almost spotless, with a low human intervention, the visitors will venture to go all over 20 thousand hectares of tangled woods, Granite Mountains, trekking trails and admire the majestic condor flights, culpeo foxes and other species. Climbing aboard the Cochamó River you would find the valley with the same name, known for its high hills and the 20 to a 1.000 meters high granite wall, which is the paradise of the free climbing, activity that can be practiced in the zone where the La Trinidad Hill is located. The access road to the valley is the same that the oxes went across when they crossed Chile and Argentina carrying goods through the León path. The Cochamó town is a long street made up by the local commerce,
modest
lodgings
that
offer
southern
breakfasts and its picturesque Larch church with a Chiloé style made in 1906. The visitor could enjoy the wide offer of ecotourism activities like guided horseback riding, ship circuits and kayak trips. For more adventured spirits, uphill there are campsites and some shelters where to rest and change energy by drinking a comforting mate, to restart the walk through larches and oaks, where the only thing the visitor would hear is the peculiar and heart-rending singing of the native birds.
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 19
20 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
Cochamo
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 21
Frutillar
THE STAGE OF SOUTHER 22 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
Frutillar
Northeast of Llanquihue Lake, between Osorno and Calbuco volcanos, the spark of this city can be spotted along with its history, scenery and unquestionable beauty and tranquility. The city has been recognized as one of the main touristic attractions from the south of Chile, adding to it the well known “Musical Weeks of Frutillar” on one of the most important theater of South America.
Vicente Perez Rosales – founder of the town -, captivated by the natural beauty and privileged location, called it “The southern jewel of the Republic”. Surrounded by the forests and prairies, Frutillar is located on the bank of Llanquihue Lake, facing Osorno, Puntiagudo and Tronador volcanos, offering its tourists a postcard that will remain forever in their memories. The history of the first European settlers is reflected in the city by the old architecture of the carefully preserved houses, its delicate urbanization and impeccable streets decorated with beautiful and colorful gardens. The exquisite gastronomy and bakery are great bonus, as well.
RN SUMMER
Founded in 1856, Frutillar is known by its German influence, thanks to the settlers who arrived in Chile by the middle of the XIX
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 23
century and made their home in the åreas of Los Bajos, Punta Larga and Frutillar. BY the beginning of the XX century the railroads network from the State extends its population to Frutillar Alto allowing a better communication with the whole country. A must-see visit to the Colonial German Museum will make you bring back to life the settlers and their lives from where they founded all Llanquihue Lake’s Banks. Apart from the interesting history, during the summer, the town becomes in the host of classic and jazz shows. The musical weeks take place in Teatro del Lago, which has been transformed into a recreational and educational center for music and art. Since 1968, the music has played a mayor role in Frutillar, where people have enjoyed classical music performed by famous orchestras, directors, national and international opera singers and jazz groups. Due to its large black-sanded beaches and cristal clear waters, it is recommended to all tourists to spend some time on them and then getting los ton Phillipi Street, enjoying the variety of restaurants, shops and tea rooms where people enjoy strudels and kuchenes made with the delicious southern fruits such as strawberries and raspberries giving the ideal atmosphere for relaxing.
24 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
Frutillar
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 25
Puer�o Varas
A RIDE AROU
26 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
Puerto Varas
OUND THE CITY OF ROSES
Iglesia: FotograямБa de Francisco Negroni
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 27
Hotels, lodges and war� hostels are presented in Puer�o Varas all year long. It has a casino and a wide gast�onomic offer in which craſt beer and mar�elous cooked meat with the defined and special seal of the place is proposed. Also an aromatic range of high qualit� chocolate is suggested in the t�aditional chocolate stores. All sur�ounded by dreamlike places and destinies.
28 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
Puerto Varas
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 29
30 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
Puerto Varas
The city of Puerto Varas is located in the banks of the
clothes, among other legacy of the settlers that
Llanquihue Lake. It has particular patrimonial
arrived to our city.
architecture of European roost since its foundation in 1853. Swiss and German settlers chose Puerto Varas
The Phillipi park has a varied vegetation that makes it
motivated by its beautiful background and the need
the ideal paths to hike at any time during the day. In
to populate the South of Chile. The city was set 21
its summit the visitor can have a panoramic and
kilometers from Puerto Montt and all its visitors are
beautiful view of the whole city and its surroundings.
captivated by its modern residential areas and
At night, the monumental cross is lighted giving and
beautiful rose gardens which it took its name.
amazing show.
The patrimonial architecture can be seen through the
The city is the starting point for another adventure, as
main pathways. The Sagrado Corazón de Jesús
it is the Peulla international border crossing that leads
(Sacred Heart of Jesus) Church, built in 1915 by
to Bariloche, following the route that borders the
Edmundo Niklitschek was declared as a National
Llanquihue lake. This is where you can also enjoy a
Monument. Another attraction is the Centro Cultural
natural landscape of an incomparable beauty as it is
Estación Puerto Varas (The Station Cultural Center of
the Vicente Pérez Rosales Park, the Petrohué falls, the
Puerto Varas ), located in the old Train Station that
mountainside of the Osorno, Calbuco, Puntiagudo
offers art expositions all year long. The Historical
Volcanoes and the Tronador hill. To access these
Museum Antonio Felmer gives the visitors an
amazingly beautiful places, there is a wide and varied
amazing chance to know the details of the
offer of tour services in the downtown of Puerto
colonization of Puerto Varas, through a complete
Varas that it is concern to satisfy the most
exposition of the technological transformation, the
sophisticated tastes of its visitors.
gastronomic traditions, architecture, arts, music and
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 31
For the ones who visit the Vicente PĂŠrez Rosales National Park, it is impossible to surrender to the temptations that the Natura Patagonia Hotel offers them. Located in the small lake port of Peulla, which is in the easternmost shore of the Todos los Santos lake in the commune of Puerto Varas, Distric of Los Lagos.
32 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
Natura
Natura Patagonia Hotel:
PEULLA-THE THRESHOLD OF A PARADISE
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 33
Pioneers in the zone Tourism By the ends of the XIX century, the transport company "La Chile Argentina" opened a new commercial route that crossed the lake chain of the Los Andes mountain range from Puerto Varas to the Argentinian Patagonia. The initiative allowed the trade of European, Chilean and Argentinian products between the inhabitants of both places. During the recession of 1913, "La Chile Argentina" was sold to Ricardo Roth, who turned it into a tourism company. The guest house built in 1896 became the Peulla Hotel, a mandatory path of the Chilean and Argentinean travellers coming from Puerto Varas and PetrohuĂŠ, or coming from San Carlos de Bariloche. The Peulla Hotel and the new Natura Patagonia Hotel belong to Mr. Alberto Schirmer Roth.
34 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
Natura
www.hotelnatura.cl
With a charming mountain stile and highest comfort, the Natura Patagonia Hotel is the threshold into an untouched world of Valdivian rainforests with unique species of the planet, rivers, lakes, valleys, volcanoes and mountains that make the prelude to the Patagonian. Given its location and context, the offer of activities is varied. Offering from the intense canopy trough ancient and leafy forests, trekking, kayak, sport fishing and guided horseback riding. To arrive to this destiny and enjoy the stay, the visitor must know that from PetrohuĂŠ, the nearest town, there is no land route. So the access is by boats that cross the Todos los Santos lake.
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 35
Calbuco Islands:
flavours and landscapes of the deep south The Calbuco commune is an archipelago located in the coast of the Breast Reloncaví, with beautiful and green islands and contrast with the deep blue water. In a tour boat sailing off Calbuco, the visitor can enjoy the dreamlike landscapes and the different gastronomic and traditional island activities that make this particular place in Chile a unique place. In Mapudungun, Calbuco means “Blue waters”, given to the sea color, which immediately calls the visitors attention and it becomes an attractive invitation, impossible to reject. 56 kilometers southeast Puerto Montt, the mainland stars to dismember in fourteen islands, some of them are: Puluqui, Tautil, Huar, Quenu, Queullín, Tabón, Chidhuapi, Chaullín Nao, Huapi Abtao, which all can be travelled through their channels. Puluqui Island is the biggest in the Calbuco archipelago, its curious form seems to be a hand and it is one of the most attractive island in the commune, because beautiful ponds, estuaries, native forests can be found here. The Poza de Llaicha and another hereditary eight churches represent the architecture of each of the areas in this Island. The annual Traditional Festival of the Puluquí Island prints a one of a kind environment of festivity and tradition. The fourth version will start the eighth of February and it will gather gastronomic shows that go from curanto in a hole and stewed curanto. Several shellfish, fish and southern potatoes of different kind and also the offer of diverse typical products. Everything together with the folk rhythm of the zone.
36 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
Calbuco
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 37
Following the tour through the islands, it is impossible not to appreciate the spectacle that the different species of birds that inhabit the Lagartija (Lizard) Island offer, located in the northeast of the Ancud Gulf, it is a real sanctuary of nature that gathers reptiles and birds from diverse species, which includes the Magellanic Penguin – protected species -, cormorants, pelicans and flightless Quentru ducks. The unique opportunity to photograph and appreciate an unlike landscape that gives diversity and beauty to this group of islands. During the trips through other islands, the visitors could enjoy a wide variety of guide hikes and hosting services with different and affordable prices, that results in an unforgettable field learning experience in the traditions of the deep South of our country. 38 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
Calbuco
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 39
Winning photographs in our instagram contest Wanderlust & Odysseys
40 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
Torres del Paine National Park; Photo by Alex Maureira
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 41
Cochamo; Photo by Deisy Argel Cholgo - Hornopiren; Photo by Yasna Diaz
42 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
CONTEST/Instagram
Cerro Concepcion - Valparaiso; Photographs Carlos Allen Panguilemo station of Talca; Photographs Karina Olivos
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 43
Frutillar spring - Photographs Hugo Ignacio Milanca Seno Otway - Magallanes Region; Photographs Patricia de Paula
44 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
CONTEST/Instagram
Enchanted Forest - Puyuhuapi; Photographs of Claudia Araujo
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 45
O W
T r a v e l Magazine
Wanderlust & Odysseys Travel Magazine
Wanderlust & Odysseys is the new digital tourism magazine of VJ Travel Networks. It is free and it will be sent to our readers quarterly. It combines the interactive technology with the unequalled knowledge of the market to make a privileged information guide made to assist in the development of the connection and information channels to promote the destinies and increase the satisfaction levels of the travellers.
-
High deďŹ nition level in our digital magazine
-
National and International distribution
-
Free account
-
Easy to share and send
-
Low cost
-
Bigger coverage by MKTG Digital.
-
Sustainable promotion.
For more information contact Christian@vjtravelnet.com. Looking for promoting the difference and develop of the tourism in Chile.
Wanderlust & Odysseys Team.
46 |
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
Staff Wanderlust & Odysseys Travel Magazine
Gladys BarrĂa Desing Editorial
Gabriela Mellado Journalist
Christian von Johnn Manager
WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS
| 47
Ganadore
Photographs courtesy of Timothy Taffe
WO
T r a v e l Magazine
Wanderlust&Odysseys WANDERLUST&ODYSSEYS