MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Tourists leave hundreds of millions of dollars in Argentina

Brazilians, Uruguayans, and US nationals made for the bulk of foreign travelers arriving in the country

Foreign tourists have left US$ 850 million in Argentina during the recent winter recess, Buenos Aires authorities reported this week. The local government also said 4,510,000 visitors had entered the country through all border crossings, of whom 2,312,000 were leisure travelers.

Two-thirds of them stemmed from neighboring countries, while Brazilians, Uruguayans, and US nationals were the ones who contributed the most foreign currency, in a season that showed “the rhythm of recovery of receptive tourism,” according to Tourism Minister Matías Lammens.

“Hand in hand with the recovery of connectivity, in which Aerolíneas Argentinas played a central role and the promotion in strategic markets, we had a very good winter and we expect [the] last quarter [of 2022] with levels very close to those of the pre-pandemic,” said Lammens.

“In terms of the expenditure that those visitors have, we are already close to surpassing the numbers of 2019,” he added.

In the last two months of 2022, the recovery of tourist arrivals with respect to the same period of pre-pandemic times is around 70%, it was reported.

“So far this year these visitors have spent US$ 2,060 million” and “in the last three months, the recovery of tourist expenditure is 90% compared to the same months of the pre-pandemic,” according to Argentine authorities, with Brazilians and Uruguayans accounting for most of the expenditures with 22.8% and 20.3% of the total arrivals, followed Paraguayans (10.8%), Chile (10.7%), and the United States (8%).