Assessment of the vulnerability of tourism infrastructure in the event of a tsunami in the tourist destination of Viña del Mar, Chile

Abstract

Viña del Mar is a tourist destination in Chile that has experienced great development in recent years. Considering that it is an area susceptible to a tsunami, the high occupation of the territory increases exposure and vulnerability to this hazard. The objective of this research is to identify those areas of Viña del Mar that are under the greatest tourist pressure and to evaluate their tourist infrastructure in order to determine which are the most vulnerable. Following the tourist inventory, the Población Vergara sector has the highest condensation of tourist infrastructure and has therefore been determined as a study area. The physical vulnerability assessment was carried out using the Papathoma Tsunami Vulnerability Assessment (PTVA) methodology. It has been found that Viña del Mar has a large tourist development and that, despite the fact that approximately 88% of the tourist infrastructure is not vulnerable to a possible tsunami, there should be planning at the tourist destination level to safeguard both tourists and the local population residing and/or working in the destination. Such planning could provide a further contribution to the quality of tourism in the destination.