Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has announced that it will manage a new urban resort that is currently under development in Viña del Mar, Chile.

Having taken the title of South America’s Leading Adventure Tourism Destination at the World Travel Awards earlier this year, Gonzalo Fernández, director of marketing at the Chile Tourism Board, tells Breaking Travel News what is on offer in the destination. He also tells reporter Kaye Holland how the changing political situation in the UK is impacting visitor numbers and what the country has planned for 2018.

Hotel Santiago opens today under Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group management, following the group’s announcement in May. Formerly the Grand Hyatt Santiago, the property will undergo an extensive guestroom and public area renovation, the first stage of which is scheduled for completion in late 2018.

Having witnesses a seismic event measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale on Christmas Day, tourism authorities in Chile have been quick to state tourism in the destination is unaffected. With an epicentre at Quellón, to the south of Chiloé Island, the affected area is more than a thousand kilometres from the nation’s capital of Santiago.

Unique natural attractions, a wide variety of climates, and geographic diversity are some of the primary features that make Chile an unparalleled destination for adventure tourism. Hands down one of the best landscapes in the region can be seen while traveling on the Carretera Austral, one of the most beautiful roads in Patagonia which has been selected countless times as one of the most photogenic routes in America. Here Breaking Travel News finds out more.

British Airways is launching the only direct flight between London and Santiago, Chile from January 3rd, 2017. Santiago will become the airline’s lengthiest long-haul route, taking 14 hours 40 minutes, nearly an hour more than the current longest flight of 13 hours 50 minutes service to Buenos Aires. The four-a-week flight will be served by the airline’s newest aircraft, the four-cabin Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, complete with a new First cabin.