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The economic crisis suffered by Argentina, with inflation exceeding 200%, had its consequences in the current summer season, which registers little movement in hotel establishments with a decrease in reservations. Domestic tourism, which had managed to recover after the inactivity of the pandemic, now faces a complex situation, and although the country is receiving foreign visitors, it is not able to recover.
The 211.4% inflation with which Argentina closed 2023, the lack of purchasing power and uncertainty, caused a drop in reservations in the main tourist cities, complicating the outlook for the 2023–2024 season.
According to the Hotel and Gastronomic Business Association (AEHG), cited by the local press, the coastal city of Mar del Plata registered an occupancy rate between 65% and 70% during the first fortnight of the year.
The Tourism and Culture Entity of Mar del Plata (Emturyc) reported that in the first days of the current month the city received just over 307,000 visitors, which meant a hotel occupancy of 68.8%. 20% less than what was recorded in the period last season.
“The first fortnight of the season we have a low occupancy factor compared to the previous year, we are at 40% occupancy, we have weekends with 70%, but it is very low compared to last year. We are very similar to what would be the pandemic years, where occupancy ranges between 40 and 60%“, Paul Etcheverry, manager of Spa 13 Ibiza Punta Mogotes, in Mar del Plata, told AFP.
While domestic tourism seems to stagnate, the number of foreigners who visited Argentina as of November 2023 increased by 43.5% year-on-year, reaching 1,207,900 people, of which more than half were tourists.
The data was provided by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec), which indicated that in the eleventh month of last year 624,900 tourists entered the country, which represented a year-on-year increase of 42.7%.
According to the organization, incoming tourism came mainly from neighboring countries such as Uruguay (22.3% of travelers), Brazil (17%) and Chile (16.8%).
Forecasts for international tourism
For its part, the United Nations World Tourism Organization assured this Friday, January 19, that global tourism is expected to fully recover in 2024 from the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic. From the Organization, they project that the number of international tourists could increase by close to 2% compared to 2019.
The increase in the number of flights and the recovery of Asian markets will allow a full return of tourism activities around the world this year, although geopolitical instability in the Middle East and other regions is a factor that the tourism sector looks at carefully because it can affect the completion of trips.
In 2023, international tourism reached 88% of pre-pandemic levels, and estimates indicate that the number of international travelers reached around 1.3 billion.
With Reuters, EFE and local media
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