MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ushuaia expects some 540 cruise calls this season, “hopefully an estimated 200,000 visitors”

Dante Querciali said there was a very marked growth in cruise activities, “even compared to 2019 which was a historic season for Ushuaia”

The current cruise season means some 200,000 tourists will be visiting the extreme south Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego, based on the announced projection of 540 calls in Ushuaia, according to Dante Querciali, president of Tierra del Fuego Tourism Institute.

“The beginning of the summer season has been most fluid, with much overall movement. Luckily we finished the winter season and almost immediately the cruise season and air traffic triggered meaning we have a very good level of tourism activity, and occupancy in hotels.”
Speaking with a local radio in Ushuaia, Querciali said there was a very marked growth in cruise activities, “even compared to 2019 which was a historic season and prospects for this summer are on that trend”

“In 2019 we had 450 cruise calls and this year we are expecting 540, this is approximately 200,000 visitors in the season, extending from October to March.”

And all this is most positive because of the foreign currency it generates, commercial activity for our shops, supplying the vessels and of course the money spent by passengers when they land to look around the city and/or contract tours and other amenities.

“When the large cruise vessels disembark and coincide, we could have some 5,000 people roaming across Ushuaia and its attractions, plus the smaller Antarctic expeditions which have our city as the arrival and departure port, we're talking of some 150 to 300 people who have a strong economic standing”

Anyhow the head of the Tierra del Fuego Tourism Institute admitted that so far “we are experiencing a 75% recovery compared to before the pandemic, but we still have to fully recover the influx of international tourism, regional is overflowing,”

“Most of the international demand is from Europe, particularly Spain, France, Italy and Germany, plus the Americans, which represent a significant percentage of the cruise traffic” Summing up, over weekends flights are packed, with a very solid demand from domestic tourism, and a significant share of international tourism, “but we are still missing foreigners to reach our capacity”.