Has there been a decline in tourism / expats?

[sergio]

Just curious to know if people can give some insight. Has there been a drop in tourism and expats in BA? If so, can you be specific.

 

[Napoleon]

No, I can't be specific.

YES, absolutely!

"Someone" I know works some in the Turismo Sector and from city tours, to Tango shows, to blah-blah-blah, there's been a definite impact from "The Crisis".

Once again, nothing specific, but plenty of anecdotal evidence.

 

[kanguro]

Just curious to know if people can give some insight. Has there been a drop in tourism and expats in BA? If so, can you be specific.

I just got back from El Calafate & there's no aparent drop in tourism there. My impression is that tourism to south america in general is undergoing an evolutionary change, and in the short term it means an immediate temporary drop. I'm of the opinion that the crisis will actually be beneficial to local tourism in the mid term. Example, instead of going to Aspen, you go to Bariloche instead, but this decision takes time & that means the likelihood of not going for one season while you readjust to the new economic climate. I could be wrong, but I'm willing to put my money on it.

 

[diego7david]

restaurant friends here say drop in business of about 40 percent in recoleta area but no specific stats on whether that is tourist or tourist and local use

a tour agency friend of mine that deals with usa traffic states his business is down almost 60 percent and also as part of his business is renting apts here to toursist that is also down significantly

a long time resident of calafate and a friend of mine in calafate says business there is terrible. his house has been robbed 4x in the past months he says because so many laborers are out of work. i m heading down end of january and i found vacancy for every where and every place i looked and when i did book got a great discount because they were empty

however economics is not my field just adding a few things i ve heard or seen

from my back and forth experience tween usa and here, the price that lan airline charges has gotten so high that it really makes a trip here difficult to justify ie in 2005/6 often a r/t ticket was 700-800 dollars to ba

now lan tickets run from 1200 to 2400 usa dollars r/t economy most times makeing buenos aires a very expensive trip when you can go to most other parts of the world for much less thats enough to discourage tourism even in good times

 

[syngirl]

I agree with diego7david - when i first moved down I went home every 6 - 8 months, now it's changing to every 12-18months because of the cost.

friends of ours came down from the States for xmas with their argentine family -- said that their plane wasn't full (they flew the 19th), and that even Viggo Mortensen was flying coach with them! If he's in coach, what does that mean for the rest of us??? lol

 

[steveinbsas]

from my back and forth experience tween usa and here, the price that lan airline charges has gotten so high that it really makes a trip here difficult to justify ie in 2005/6 often a r/t ticket was 700-800 dollars to ba

now lan tickets run from 1200 to 2400 usa dollars r/t economy most times makeing buenos aires a very expensive trip when you can go to most other parts of the world for much less thats enough to discourage tourism even in good times

American is often under $1000 and has great off peak frequent flier rewards as low as 40,000 miles round trip. Mexicana also has fares below $1000 and connecting through Mexico City is great if you are flying from the west coast or midwest, but be sure to avoid overnight connections in Mexico City. Mexicana also allows a small dog in a carry-on inside the cabin (at least they did in 2006).

 

[diego7david]

thanks havent looked at mexicana but only taca, lan, and aerolineas and these the price spikes really started just last june july etc from nyc and miami which are my take off points although now i see some lower fares on lan too but trying to use my lan miles its almost impossible to finds dates that agree with my schedule

american i did look at also all fall and they were equal to lan i do find that the fares change greatly depending on when i looked sometimes just an hour later puzzling.

my trip now to calafate it was 600 on lan so i wasnt going internal fares for citizens were 350 usa two weeks ago i looked again internal fares for lan well it said for all of jan and feb there were no flights available on the argentine internal lan website then i looked at usa lan website and found all dates available and some for rather inexpensive (compared to last look) at 330 usa r/t direct to calafate

 

[soulskier]

I manage rental properties around Bariloche and happy to report brisk reservations. Most of our properties are totally booked for summer and we are receiving several inquires daily, toque madera.

I think the trend is people are still traveling, just looking for more of a bargain, which private homes offer, much like apartments in BA, as opposed to hotels.

 

[Stanexpat]

The cost to get to Argentina versus other places in the world from the states is higher. I doubt this by itself would deter people from coming. However a lot of people were coming to Argentina because it was cheap compared to other destinations. However if people feel the cost of visiting there is no longer a bargain then tourism will suffer. The new entry fees and high inflation there is not helping keep Argentina competitive. The world wide economic slowdown will really start to bite in 2009. My guess is that tourism there will show a sharp decline as a result of these factors.

 

[steveinbsas]

Coffee in a cafe is still cheap here compared to the US or Paris (in spite of what Sergio continues to claim), and great restaurant bargains do exist BA. One example is Green Life at 2743 Paraguay. It's a vegetarian, all you can eat buffet with an Asian emphasis and its really good . The cost for lunch is 15 pesos. Drinks are extra (about 8 pesos).

If some other expats are interested in meeting for an expat lunch once or twice a month I would certainly attend. The restaurant is closed on Mondays. I was thinking about the first and third Tuesdays at 1:30pm. If others are interested please send me a note. Reservations would not be required and I think it would be great if even just a few individuals show up on any particular Tuesday. They have several round tables that seat eight and are rarely used.