Support for Travelers Caught in Chile Mixed

Updated March 4, 12:50 a.m.

When the massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck Chile on Saturday, Feb. 27, clients of travel agents, tour operators and at least one cruise line were immediately affected – some because they were already in Chile or en-route, and some because their travel was planned for this week and next. All have been working hard to provide support to their clients. But at least one agent says support has been hard to come by.

One of the most affected suppliers was Tauck, which had two departures of its 13-day Essence of South America (which includes two nights in Santiago) scheduled to depart within days of the earthquake. Both were cancelled, however many passengers for the Feb. 28 departure were already in Santiago for pre-stays.

After convening its crisis management team early on Saturday, the company was able to confirm that all pre-tour guests were unhurt, a spokesman said. On Monday, Tauck was still making arrangements for these guests to return home.

The tour operator’s next scheduled departure of the tour is March 7 and is monitoring the situation in Santiago. No decision has yet been made on whether the tour will run or not.

Latour the Latin American Division of ISRAMWORLD reported to Travel Market Report that it only had three cancellations after the earthquake. The remainder of their clients scheduled to travel to Chile are either traveling as planned or are postponing their trips for a later date.

“While the earthquake was devastating for certain parts of Chile the Tourist regions have not been affected to any great extent. We foresee a quick recovery for the country and its people as well as a steady flow of tourism,” said Arthur Berman, managing director of Latour.

Collette Vacations had a Discover South America tour on the ground at the time of the earthquake. The group was in route to Argentina when the quake struck. the Tour Manager reported that the group “felt a bit of a rumble” but were not affected in any way. 

“All of our passengers are fine, not in harms way and our tour has not been affected,” said Paula Twidale, executive vice president of Collette Vacations.

“Fortunately, we did not have any clients in Chile when the earthquake hit early Saturday morning,” a spokesperson for the Globus family of brands told Travel Market Report. “Overall, it seems that both our operations team and authorities in Chile are doing a remarkable job of recovery and staying on top of information. Upcoming departures are indeed operating. This week, we do have two sets of clients who are scheduled to make their way to Chile — those already on tour in South America and those getting set to depart this week. For both sets of travelers, their vacations are proceeding with minimal alterations.”

South American Cruise Delayed 

Princess Cruises has also been affected, as the Star Princess was scheduled to arrive in Valparaiso, Chile on March 2.

According to a Princess statement the Star Princess ended its current cruise in Valparaiso as scheduled. However, its sailing scheduled to depart today, March 2, will be delayed until March 4.

“Because air flights are continuing to operate in and out of Santiago on a limited basis over the next several days, we recognize that passengers are having difficulties reaching Star Princess as planned. Therefore we will hold the ship in Valparaiso until noon on Thursday, March 4, giving arriving passengers additional time to meet the ship,” the statement said.

“At that time, Star Princess will depart on a revised itinerary for the next cruise, calling at the ports of Ushuaia, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, and ending in Rio de Janeiro on March 16. Passengers who are able to embark Star Princess in Valparaiso at the time of sailing on March 4 will sail on the revised itinerary, and will be advised after departure on their cruise details. Passengers who are currently onboard Star Princess and are unable to fly home because of limited air flights, have two options. They can disembark the ship as planned on March 2, or they can remain onboard for the next cruise, and can disembark from any of the ports on the sailing up to and including Buenos Aires.”

Passengers who booked their inbound or outbound air through Princess are being re-booked by the cruise line, and any modification to pre- or post-cruise packages are being taken care of as well, the line reported.

Princess is contacting any passengers who made independent travel plans to Valparaiso with the status of their hotels.

The difference in help passengers received depends very much on who they booked with. Independent travelers get little or no help from anyone. And even clients who book land or sea with an agent or tour operator but who booked their air independently often get less help.

“When the unplanned happens, tour operators… can provide far more support and greater levels of assistance than an independent traveler far from home could hope to find on their own,” said the Tauck spokesman.

Agents Affected As well

Great Southern Travel has two couples booked on the Princess cruise. According to Linda K. Strait, vice president and director of operations, one couple made it on to the last flight into Santiago, which was rerouted to a nearby airport. They have since been transferred to Santiago where they were staying with a Princess representative at their hotel. The other couple was stuck in Lima, but is now enroute to Chile. Strait said they had a lot of difficulty getting the couple transport.

According to Strait, Princess advised Great Southern Travel that it is responsible for contacting the airline directly to arrange the flight re-booking for their client stuck in Lima, despite the fact the air was booked through Princess.

“They have not offered to help secure flights to get them to the cruise,” she said.

(Editor’s update, March 4: Both of Strait’s clients eventually arrived in Valparaiso and boarded the Star Princess. The couple that came via Lima received help from a woman at the hotel they were staying at. “Princess was not involved in helping them find their way to the ship from Lima,” Strait said.)

Donna Johnson, president of Red Bird Travel Plus, has clients currently on the Princess cruise scheduled to arrive in Valparaiso. Both couples were scheduled to participate in a three-night post-cruise tour in Chile, but Johnson was advising them to stay onboard if possible to get to another port with a major airport. She added that Abercrombie & Kent is the ground operator for the post-cruise stay.

(Editor’s update, March 3: After Johnson spoke with A&K and the company’s manager in Santiago, and found out there was minimal damage in the city, Johnson’s clients decided to proceed with their tour.)

According to a spokesperson at Abercrombie & Kent, the tour out of Valparaiso is operating as usual. “Although some highways and bridges in Santiago were damaged, alternate routes are available and traffic is moving,” she said. And the country’s major tourist destinations — Patagonia, Atacama, Lake District, Easter Island) have not been affected.

Furthermore in a letter from Pedro Barraza, regional managing director – South America, Abercrombie & Kent, dated March 1: “We can confirm that the major tourist destinations and highlights of the country were not impacted. The only area we are evaluating at the moment is the heart of the Wine Country (Colchagua Valley) that is closer to the affected region and we will inform any clients with programs to this area of any specific changes once the hotels and vineyards are inspected.”

Dolores Cavallo, president of Wisconsin-based Traveleisure, told Travel Market Report she has clients scheduled to depart on March 17 for a Latour tour. She is monitoring the situation and will wait a few days before making a decision on whether to send her clients on the Santiago portion of the tour.

On February 28, the U.S. State Department issued an alert to U.S. citizens planning to travel to Chile. The alert “strongly urges U.S. citizens to avoid tourism and non-essential travel to Chile.”

According to the alert several cities suffered damage, and others have been affected by power outages and limited telecommunications, including Santiago and Valparaiso. The Santiago International Airport reopens on a very restricted basis today, March 2.

Additionally, the alert states that strong aftershocks are likely for weeks.