Despite 100% inflation, Argentines enjoy record summer 2023 tourist season
The 2023 summer season broke records in Argentina with 33.8 million travelers throughout the country.
The Argentine Confederation of Medium Enterprises (CAME) reported an increase of 4.6% compared to last summer, with an estimated tourist spending of 1.3 trillion pesos (US$6.5 billion) - 12.4% more than in the 2022 summer season, in real terms, and around 5% of GDP for that 10-week period.
The Argentine summer holiday season - which lasts from mid-December through February - had been impacted by the global Covid-19 pandemic, with domestic tourism dropping from 31.5 million in early 2020 to 22.4 million the following summer.
Travel then jumped to 32.3 million in early 2022 - recovering to above the 2020 record despite gloomy projections.
Foreign tourism has likewise been recovering, with an estimated 7.2 million inbound visitors last year - a figure approaching the 7.4 million registered in 2019, before the Covid pandemic.
But of the US$3.4 billion in estimated foreign visitor purchases last year, only US$544 million were made through the formal sector - with most tourists preferring to exchange currencies through the informal, "blue" market (currently 45% below the official exchange rate).
To counter this drain on badly-needed foreign exchange, Economy Minister Sergio Massa in November allowed visitors to use credit cards at the "electronic payments" rate - similar to the "blue" rate, with no counterfeiting risks.
At: www-baenegocios-com.translate.goog/economia/Turismo-record-en-los-principales-puntos-del-pais-20230303-0038.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Enjoying a banner summer holiday season despite severe inflation, Argentines flocked to among other popular spots the Buenos Aires Province Atlantic Coast, lakefront Bariloche, and the Iguazú Falls.
Foreign tourism has likewise been recovering - though a boom in outbound tourism, added to the common practice by visitors of exchanging currency in the informal sector, led to an estimated US$6.7 billion travel deficit for the country last year and its largest net hard currency drain.
