Thanks for setting up this thread, Perry.
Following on from the Food Prices thread where you first brought up international tourism and the idea that with more international tourism, it would be beneficial to the Argentine economy in this crisis yet you expressed the belief that international tourism to Argentina had "plummeted".
Official tourism data can
be found here (
@perry - if you have any doubts as to the authenticity of this data please raise it with SINTA, INDEC and WTTC) which clearly shows international tourist arrivals to Argentina are higher in each month this year than last year to date.
You have now posted a six paragraph article about tourism in Bariloche specifically. Which I also share the concern about but also see a glimmer of hope, although not much in the short term. In those six paragraphs nothing much is mentioned about why occupancy has been so low in May this year in Bariloche. The reasons for this are:
- May is always one of the lowest months in Bariloche
- Domestic tourism is the problem (e.g. Argentines visiting destinations within Argentina) and is weaker than last year, primarily because Argentines this year (a) do not have pre-viaje but they do have another government incentive now called "
cuota simple" designed to help finance domestic tourism (b) according to advance airline booking data are
preferring to travel abroad presumably because now that the dollar is not as expensive and culturally Argentines have a tendency to prefer to travel abroad than within Argentine if given the chance (c) the obvious economic crisis affecting some households that would have otherwise travelled.
-
Domestic tourism is currently estimated to account for 80%+ of all tourism to Bariloche
Meanwhile,
- Hotel reservations during the winter school holiday peak season (e.g. July) are higher than this month together with higher prices
- Brazilian arrivals in Bariloche continue to be strong, this year there are expected to be 40% more Brazilians visiting Bariloche than last year
- This winter there will be direct flights from Bariloche to a few Brazilian and Chilean cities by four airlines
Si bien el tipo de cambio ya no los favorece como el año pasado, aseguran que Argentina sigue siendo un destino competitivo. Sin embargo, los operadores reciben quejas por los valores de las excursiones.
www.rionegro.com.ar
This last point is the key difference and hope/ opportunity I see for touristic areas of Bariloche/ Argentina that simply did not exist in the 90's - Brazil, a country of 215.000.000 people with a large middle class that is now travelling like crazy only a 3-5 hour flight away, while Bariloche / Argentina is able to offer things that Brazilians don't have at home and with touristic prices that are pretty similar to those in Brazil or elsewhere in the region still offering competitive value. IMO the city and area still lacks a lot of investment and can't expect to rely on snow-flakes and rapa-nui forever, but it would do well to focus on higher yielding international tourism with hard currency to spend instead of the roller-coaster that is domestic tourism or cheap-as-chips grad party tourism.
And above all it is worth pointing out that Bariloche is but one destination in Argentina and receives only around 800.000 tourists (local and international) a year in recent times, while between JAN24-MAR24 Argentina as a whole has so far received 2.300.000 foreign tourists alone.
So, Perry, having clarified what is going on in Bariloche, I eagerly await for you to show that
international tourist arrivals in Argentina has plummeted so far in 2024 with "alternative facts" (?)
www.cadena3.com
. The ash went around the world, Johannesburg, Sydney, Auckland. The place I used to stay in Llifén (lago Ranco) was covered in ash, the fisheries in the rivers feeding the lake were finished off by 40 degree water. And the lake was covered in pumice for a while.
