MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Good” but no so good season for Punta Arenas hotels

The number of hotel bookings and passengers this season in Punta Arenas has not been homogeneous according to a survey among the main hotels and published in the local La Prensa Austral.

Although so far there are no official figures, of the eight main hotels surveyed, three admitted that 2007 has been the weakest of the last three seasons, particularly regarding the number of foreign tourists visiting Punta Arenas. Some hotel owners point to the fact that visitors arrive in Punta Arenas airport and contrary to previous seasons, simply travel directly to Torres del Paine national park. "I believe that Argentina offers better and cheaper deals because of the favourable exchange rate", said Jaime Ascencio, from the Mercurio Hotel. However Magdalena Bohorquez from the Plaza Hotel blames Punta Arenas local authorities for having been unable to control "car racing" in the main streets and the "pounding noise" of discos all night long which means "passengers can't sleep". However the Montecarlo and Los Naveganes hotels said they had a relatively good January season although, contrary to previous years, passengers only stay overnight and prefer to move on. But they did admit that the number of foreign tourists had dropped with most of them preferring to travel to Tierra del Fuego, and possibly Antarctica, or visit the channels area and Cape Horn. Finally for the Condor del Plata, Finis Térrea, Isla Rey Jorge and Tierra del Fuego hotels, the season so far has been "good" with 85% occupancy in January. Meantime two new hotels currently under construction in Punta Arenas are scheduled to be inaugurated next April. They are Hotel Diego de Almagro in plaza Colon which will have eight floors, 108 rooms and Hotel Rey Don Felipe, three floors and 45 rooms. Total investment is estimated in ten million US dollars.