For three days, the meeting presents the main solutions to the problems present in the world of snow and mountains. Santiago, Wednesday, October 12, 2022 – Today began at the Metropolitan Santiago convention center, Vitacura, the only international meeting of the mountain industry in South America, Expo Andes 2022, a space designed for commercial exchange and debate on the advances and challenges that today are presented in the industry globally. In its 6th version, which takes place from Wednesday October 12 to Friday October 14, the fair presents more than 70 exhibitors and over 150 brands from 20 countries, offering a commercial and strategic exhibition space with the latest trends and technological solutions in the industry. This year, more than 5 thousand professionals and executives from private, academic and public institutions related to the world of snow and mountains are expected to visit the fair. The exhibition will allow suppliers of technologies, products and services specific to the sector and decision makers of the Andean mountain world to share their experience and best practices, being a route for our mountain economic activity to be a world quality reference. In this way, the fair will present solutions to the mountain problems that must be considered by ski resorts, municipalities, border crossings, tourism operators, roads, police, army, industrial, mining and energy operations and lovers of related activities. Among the exhibitors, the fair highlights the latest in services and products specialized in the rescue and location of people, avalanche control operations using explosives, remote surveillance at border points using drones, among others, in response to problems in the sector. It also has various alternatives to promote mountain tourism in the country. “As a Government, we are strengthening mountain tourism activity, with the “National Plan to Promote Mountain Tourism”, an initiative that seeks the implementation of a network of mountain destinations with experience and more competitive, safe and sustainable tourism activities, prioritizing 20 territories throughout the country, with the aim of supporting local productive development. This is to position Chile as a unique world-class destination that manages to enchant more visitors to our country,” said the Undersecretary of Tourism, Verónica Kunze. “I want to thank everyone for their constant effort and commitment to the tourism industry in our country, because we know that working together, public and private, is the formula to lift and revive our sector. Let us continue working together for the development of the mountains”, added the Secretary of State. The mayor of Lo Barnechea, Cristóbal Lira, highlighted the event and the opportunities it presents. “I want to congratulate Expo Andes for bringing together both people from the public and private worlds, who are interested in mountain development, and that is driven by sustainable development, being what we need in our country: to take care of our environment and our mountains, and we can see that reflected in this exhibition.” The communal authority added that “this meeting opens doors and shows opportunities to investors, and is of major importance for a country that has such an extensive mountain and presents so many tourism opportunities. I invite everyone interested in mountain issues to come to Expo Andes”. The reunion of the mountain industry, after two and a half years of pandemic, presents an ideal space to re-establish relationships, update contact networks, and find new business opportunities. The event has professionals, companies and related institutions, which analyze in this version various snow and mountain topics, among them, the protection of people and natural hazards, border limits, tourism, and infrastructure maintenance, highlighting the main difficulties that currently arise and the available solutions. INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS Expo Andes, which began its international congress after its inauguration, will address 7 panels in charge of important authorities from the public and private sector, who will share their experiences to enhance and enrich the work in the mountains and discuss about the current conditions worldwide. Its first panel called “Political Forum on Mountain Territories Management”, was conducted by the Mayor of Lo Barnechea, Cristóbal Lira, and the general manager of the Andes Santiago program, Martín Le Bert, accompanied by the moderation of Helen Kouyoumdjian, Executive Vice-President of Fedetur. This was followed by the panel “Natural Risk Management in Mountain Areas”, which addressed the dangers and threats in hills due to natural causes, such as earthquakes, avalanches, rockslides, avalanches, volcanic eruptions, and floods caused by lake overflows, among others, and the various alternatives for dealing with them. On this occasion, the event was moderated by the general manager of Nuevas Vías, Arturo Rocco, with the participation of the Metropolitan Regional Director of ONEMI, Miguel Muñoz, and the Head of Geological Hazards and Land Use Planning, Sernageomin, Mónica Marín, among others. In this regard, Emily Aubert, Manager of Expo Andes, emphasized that “during the Expo Andes 2022 congress, we will address issues related to cable transport, continuous improvement in mountain operations, public-private collaboration for destination management, sustainability and climate change, access management, rescue and natural hazards, among others. All in a rich program of conferences that will be presented by authorities and experts in the field and discussed in depth to seek solutions to current conflicts”. Finally, he indicated that “in these 13 years that we have been Expo Andes, we have brought together 350 suppliers of the sector and more than 18,000 mountain professionals, which contributes to Chileans looking at and occupying more of our mountain territories, strengthening its industry. We are happy to bring together and promote this important sector, for the benefit of the sector and all Chileans”.