Meet Our Team

We’re a diverse team of travel guides and planners with shared values working together to show the southern cone to the world.

Our team is the soul of upscape. We bring together a collection of experience-minded travel aficionados who are dedicated to making your wildest dreams a reality.

  • Brian Pearson
    Brian Pearson Founder and CEO

    U.S. native Brian Pearson is the founder of Upscape. Since arriving to Chile in 2003, he has established and directed one of South America’s leading tour operators offering unique and exciting trips featuring the best of the Southern Cone.

  • Sira Berté
    Sira Berté Founder

    Sira Berté knew she hadn’t seen the last of South America after studying in Ecuador for a year in college. Sira worked in consulting for the Chilean Ministry of Economy, Ford Foundation, & UNDP, as well as in executive education, all of which helped provide the seed capital for Upscape.

  • Jorge Swett
    Jorge Swett General Manager

    Jorge is an engineer and photographer who was born in Viña del Mar, but has also lived in the US and Patagonia. He discovered the joy of traveling when he was 18, and since then, has never stopped. His favorite spot is Patagonia, where he has shot some of his best photos.

  • Manuel Bastidas
    Manuel Bastidas VP of Sales

    Manuel was born in Temuco, a beautiful city in the south. Though he grew up in Santiago, his roots remain in Temuco, as it was there that he developed his passion for cycling, rafting, and hiking. He has more than 10 years of experience in tourism and joined Upscape in 2012.

  • Cristóbal Yáñez
    Cristóbal Yáñez Business Development Manager

    Though he was born in Viña del Mar, Cristobal prefers the neighboring city (Valparaiso), which he believes is most beautiful city in Chile. Cristobal studied Tourism Management in Santiago, but also studied at the University of Alabama. During his travels outside of the country he cannot stand being without Chilean barbecues.

  • Gianina Lillo
    Gianina Lillo Senior Experience Designer

    Gianina is a globetrotter and animal lover who loves being in touch with nature and escaping from the city to enjoy the mountains and ocean.

  • Diego Morales
    Diego Morales Senior Experience Designer

    Diego has worked in the tourism industry for almost 15 years in different tour operators and travel agencies, all of which related to inbound tourism. When not at work, he loves to be at home with his family, playing video games, eating pizza and spending most of his time with his son.

  • Daniela Escobar
    Daniela Escobar Traffic Coordinator

    Daniela is a Valparaíso native. Being from the coast, it’s no surprise that Daniela loves the distinct landscapes of the shoreline and walking along the waterfront, especially in time to catch the colorful sunsets over the Pacific. She has a degree in Tourism Operations and joined Upscape in July 2011.

  • Daniel Salinas
    Daniel Salinas Logistics

    A native of the small quaint city of Los Angeles in the south of Chile, Daniel moved to Santiago and joined Upscape in November 2014. He has a passion for Chile’s natural beauty, trekking, mountaineering, biking and of course, good Chilean wine.

  • Karem Espinoza
    Karem Espinoza Financial Controller

    Karem has been part of the Upscape team since 2008. Karem was born and raised about 70km south of Santiago and continues to enjoy the tranquility of living outside the city. In her free time, Karem enjoys spending time with her family, biking, learning about wine, and traveling in Chile.

  • Roxana Hernandez
    Roxana Hernandez Experience Designer

    During her time studying tourism, Roxana traveled the length of Chile from north to south, and fell in love with the Región de los Ríos.

  • Patricia Saffery
    Patricia Saffery Sales Team Leader

    Our expert on travel to southern Chile, Paty joined the Upscape team in 2011. Although she has a degree in graphic design, Paty discovered a passion for tourism in 2004 when she moved to beautiful Puerto Varas, looking for a chance to get out of the big city.

  • Roberto Léniz
    Roberto Léniz Management Control

    After finishing his business degree, Roberto decided to follow his passion for adventure and moved to New Zealand. He continued to explore for six years as a hiking guide in remote Patagonia and San Pedro de Atacama. Now based on Santiago, Roberto is eager to share his many experiences from the field.

  • Daniel Pesenti
    Daniel Pesenti Senior Experience Designer

    Daniel has a degree in Professional Tourism + a love for skiing, having spent some time working for Valle Nevado, La Parva + living in Vancouver. Having lived in many parts of Chile, Daniel favors the south, with one of his favorite places being the “Carretera Austral” in the Aysén region.

  • Daniela Guzmán
    Daniela Guzmán Experience Designer

    Daniela Guzmán has been working in tourism for the past 13 years. She worked for Norwegian Cruise Line, which goes to Antarctica, at different airlines, and in recent years, in tourism that brings visitors to Chile. She has always had a passion for travel, and now as an experience designer she has the chance to design adventures that allow visitors to get to know Chile and its culture better. In her free time she’s all about nature, and really enjoys traveling places she’s never been before.

  • Francisca Urbina
    Francisca Urbina Business Development Coordinator

    Francisca, is originally from the city of Santa Cruz, which is in the Colchagua Valley, an area known worldwide for its award winning wines. She currently lives in Santiago and is an avid photographer. She enjoys street art and wandering through and taking photos of the different neighborhoods of Santiago, such as, cobblestoned, classic Lastarria. She loves spending time with her family, cooking up a storm, including both traditional and innovative dishes. She’s also a huge fan of spending time in nature, and if there are forests, lakes, glaciers, so much the better.

  • Daniela Berkhoff
    Daniela Berkhoff Experience Designer

    Was born in Santiago and has always loved traveling, getting to know new places and being surrounded by nature. She studied hotel management and after graduation, lived in Patagonia working at different hotels. When she started her career in tourism, she found it was a great fit, and decided to keep on working and learning in this field. Her favorite place in Chile is Torres del Paine, and in her free time she enjoys writing short stories.

  • Sergio Molina
    Sergio Molina Operations Team Leader

    Sergio is our operations team leader. He was born in Santiago, and has been a huge fan of travel and tourism for as long as he can remember. He has a degree in tourism management and has spent many years as a local tour guide in Santiago and surroundings.

  • Claudia Vera
    Claudia Vera Accounting Analyst

    Claudia is from Santiago, but for many years lived in the north of Chile before coming back home to Santiago. She loves traveling, getting to know new places and different kinds of people, and having a wide range of new experiences. She’s very connected to her friends and family, and loves regaling them with travel stories over a delicious meal when she’s returns from her trips away.

  • Charquicán
    Charquicán

    Charquicán is one of the hardest working members of the Upscape team. His responsibilities include yawning through meetings, chasing away stray cats, and begging food at lunchtime. He also excels at curling up in rays of sunshine and can often be found napping around the office. By breed, he’s a Chilean Terrier, which is the same breed of dog that Condorito – our home-grown Chilean comic book character – had. Charquicán doesn’t let it go to his head though. He just wants to be petted.

  • Eileen Smith
    Eileen Smith Writer

    Eileen Smith was born in Brooklyn, NY, arrived to Santiago, Chile in 2004, and can hardly imagine living anywhere else. She is inspired by the quirky corners and nostalgia, and the personalities of people that bring them to life. She writes about food, design, culture, language and travel for Upscape and elsewhere. She describes Patagonia is being her “soulscape.”

Field Notes