MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Ushuaia expects this cruise season 336 vessel calls and over 100.000 visitors
During the 2014/15 season the number of cruise visitors in Ushuaia was actually down 9%, from 98.770 to 90.276, according to a release from Hosteltur. 
The number of passengers travelling to Antarctica last season totaled 35.509, which is 4% less than the 37.035 of the previous 2013/14 season. 
Estimate for this season is 112.170 passengers by April 2016, of which 79.486 non Antarctic and 36.684 Antarctic visitors. Tierra del Fuego Tourism Institute (Infuetur), in extreme south Argentina, is expecting 25% more cruise visitors this 2015/16 season, most probably breaking the 100.000 milestone, with 336 calls involving 47 cruise vessels. The estimate is 112.170 passengers by April 2016, of which 79.486 non Antarctic and 36.684 Antarctic visitors.
Chile's “Via Australis” inaugurated the Ushuaia cruise season, but prospects are that starting December, through January and February will see the height of the season with the large cruise vessels.
As to the previous season, 2014/15, the number of cruise visitors in Ushuaia was actually down 9%, from 98.770 to 90.276, according to a release from Hosteltur. Most visitors were from the US, even when their number was down 1.1% to 31.139. United Kingdom followed with 9.548 pax, down 4.7%, and Germany provided 6.675 visitors despite a drop of 26.9%. Argentine cruise visitors only represented 2.3%, equivalent to 2.091 and a fall of 22.1%.
The number of passengers travelling to Antarctica last season totaled 35.509, which is 4% less than the 37.035 of the previous 2013/14 season. Those choosing pendulum cruises, with calls in Argentina and Chile added to 42.488 and the Fuego Channels, 12.790. In other words the “Antarctica tourists represent for Ushuaia the highest number of trips per season, while the pendulum trips the largest number of passengers”.
Reference Antarctic cruises, Matias Sket, Infuetur policy secretary underlined the significance of the Antarctic cruises since their complexity requires visitors to spend one or two nights in Ushuaia, before taking off, which is very encouraging for Tierra del Fuego capital.
The Infuetur report also points out that during the 2014/15 season, 164 trips involving 25.589 passengers visited Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands with Ushuaia as the operations port, (which means round trips), while 9.920 were in 'transit' with ten calls.
Finally January was the month with the largest number of Antarctica cruise passengers, followed by December and February. Occupation averaged 89% and the number of nights on board sixteen.
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Read all commentsthe important thing is not that ushuaia will receive + 120.000 visitors, but that those tourists will have hundreds of top class hotels, resorts, nightlife, the longest ski season on earth, the only place where you can ski in the SUMMER, etc, etc, etc.
Oct 06th, 2015 - 02:59 pm 0now, compare it with porko stanley...yuk.
as i have wisely said, porko stanley is a scam for au dépourvu tourists
Ushuaia is a dump. Grey stained concrete everywhere surrounded by woods stripped bare by beavers and soggy rugger pitches. Ugh.. And then theres the knuckle dragging Malvinistas and the burning tyres.... Everyone passes through Ushuaiai as fast as possible.
Oct 06th, 2015 - 04:53 pm 0Stanley is like a nice English village, pretty, peaceful and nice with nice people. Its a great place to visit. Pity people often embark at Ushuaia, thats Ushuaias only saving grace.
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Oct 06th, 2015 - 05:17 pm 0Hundreds of top class hotels in Ushuaia....a little bit of hyperbole perchance.
I can just imagine hordes of American pensioners in their zimmer frames taking advantage of the ski slopes.
As to filling the hotels, surely they will have their own berths on the cruise liners with air conditioning to negate the smell of burning tyres...a charming folk ritual I am told.
By the way, how did your flight to the Falklands in you ancient Bonanza go.
Remember you promised thaht you would be going in August last.
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