MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Three million EU tourists in 2004.

More than three million tourists, mostly from the European Union will be travelling to the River Plate countries in 2004, said Juan Carlos López, president of Buquebus, the ferry company that traditionally has linked Buenos Aires with Montevideo and which now has also expanded to the Mediterranean and the Florida coast in United States.

Since 2001 Buquebus and its European affiliate Avemar have been sponsoring Argentina and Uruguay as two great tourist attractions for EU travellers.

"We have 12.000 tourist operators in the EU promoting our "Travel to South America" program and we have quiet a good feeling of the market", indicated Mr. López .

"Since we purchase tickets with twelve months anticipation, we know what's going to happen and I can tell you that 2004 tickets are virtually sold out, so this means that anywhere between three and four million travellers will be coming to Argentina and by extension to Uruguay".

However Mr. López cautioned that service and customer satisfaction are essential, "we all have to work together, a satisfied client returns and usually spreads the word to four or five more travellers".

Mr. López anticipates a strong and sustained recovery of the tourist industry both sides of the River Plate.

"With or without default there are 150 tourist investments under construction in Argentina. In El Calafate in Patagonia just a few years ago there was an only hotel, the number has grown to five and twenty more are being built", said Mr. López who sounded very optimistic about the recovery of the Argentine economy growing at an annual rate of over 6%.

This coming season, 2003/04, Mr. López anticipates that Argentine tourist influx to Uruguay will grow 50%, and therefore the company has increased the number of daily ferry crossings between Buenos Aires and Uruguay to seventeen. <'>During the Northern hemisphere high season that coincides with winter in the South, Buquebus Australian built fast catamarans operate between Spain and Mediterranean islands and along the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico.