Positive balance for winter holidays 2019 in Argentina

This year, the distribution of the dates of the school break was highly positive since the tourist movement covered all July, beginning this period with the vacations of the province of Salta at the beginning of the month and closing with City and province of Buenos Aires this Friday 2 of August.

“This extension of the holidays throughout the month is very satisfactory because it allows a large circulation of tourists throughout the country. In addition, we had an extra-long holiday on July 9, which boosted the activity in all the provinces, ”said the president of the CAT, Aldo Elías.

According to the survey carried out by the Argentine Chamber of Tourism together with the Federation of Tourism Chambers of the Argentine Republic (Fedecatur), the winter season lived up to expectations regarding the percentage of occupancy expected in the main tourist centers.

“The majority have reported an increase in movement during the winter holidays,” said Elías and added that the number of tourists rose accompanied by an increase in foreign tourists from the region - mainly from Brazil, Chile and Uruguay - and from distant markets such as United States and Europe.

In the case of air transport, Aerolineas Argentina, a member of the Argentine Chamber of Tourism, informed that Bariloche was one of the most chosen destinations. In fact, it was the best selling air connection from Buenos Aires during July. The flag airline also reported an important tourist movement towards the province of Córdoba, Iguazú, Ushuaia, Salta, Neuquén and Tucumán.

In fact, they estimated for this period an increase in cabotage of 17% in number of passengers compared to 2018. It should be noted that, for the months of July and August, Aerolineas Argentinas had 1,800,000 seats (900,000 seats available for destinations) of snow and 900,000 for the center and north of the country). This is a reinforcement that exceeds the offer of the previous year by 10%.

On the other hand, the snow centers realized an excellent season with an increase of skiers and tourists. In the case of Cerro Chapelco, the projections indicate a 10% increase in arrivals in inter-annual relationship. An estimated 5,500 skiers per day since the season opened.

At the same time, among the positive factors, the good snow level reached at an early date, an improvement in air connectivity, as in the case of Bariloche, and a good impact of regional tourism that leaned towards the proposal of Argentine snow. In addition, as a trend, there is talk of new foreign tourists, beginner skiers who joined the national ski centers.

Among the initiatives to boost consumption, there were some payment facilities for tourism services, and different types of offers, such as air transport, which served as tools to stimulate demand.

“The overall picture has been positive and very encouraging for the sector and for the towns that are committed to tourism. In a context of crisis, this activity is key to generating employment and energizing regional economies. Today tourism is essential for Argentina, which means that we must continue promoting its development ”, concluded Aldo Elías.