For many years, I traveled throughout Chile and the surrounding region, enjoying the appealing combination of its unique natural environment and cultural expression.
In the 1970s and 80s, the country was not well-known and few travelers came from overseas to enjoy the things which Chileans — such as my family, friends and I — did. That was when we decided to create Explora, to open up Chile and make it known to the world. In doing so, we needed to meet two requirements.
First, the Explora experience had to do justice to what already existed and not follow the path of traditional tourism, which often fails to recognize Chile’s appeal. Chile has very special characteristics which are best appreciated by experienced travelers who are able to discern the uniqueness of its environment.
Second, we decided to offer those same aspects of Chile in the very way in which we personally enjoyed them: that is, combining interaction with nature and local cultures with relatively demanding physical activity, which is necessary if you want to see the best of what the country has to offer.
Then, at the end of the day, even under the most difficult circumstances, to provide those comforts and pleasures which reward the effort made.
At that time, no one offered a service to travelers which was even close to our idea. So we had no choice but to invent it. In this we were always guided by my personal tastes. More than 20 years since then, thousands of visitors have come to Chile and enjoyed memorable experiences with us, so we must be doing something right.
Of course, certain things have changed along the way. We don’t invent from scratch anymore, but we do keep on innovating.
Some impulses can never be cured.
We wish you a good journey,
Pedro Ibáñez
President and Founder
Explora
