Sustainable tourism in Rapanui, San Pedro de Atacama and Torres Del Paine: three unique destinations in Chile

Abstract

This article analyzes, from an anthropological and comparative perspective, the processes of sustainable tourism in three emblematic destinations in Chile: Rapa Nui, San Pedro de Atacama, and Torres del Paine. Based on theoretical frameworks from landscape anthropology, political ecology, critical tourism studies, and relational ontologies.The study argues that these territories constitute socio-ecological assemblages shaped by tensions between identity, governance, heritage-making, extractivism, and conservation. The analysis suggests that advancing toward a sustainable tourism model in Chile requires incorporating qualitative and mixed qualitative-quantitative indicators that help understand the experiences, emotions, and ways of life of local communities, as well as the external pressures of the global tourism market. The next step ist the regenerative tourism.