Argentina advances in the recovery of the MICE segment

Until the outbreak of the pandemic, Argentina was the leader of the MICE segment in Latin America, after the recent reopening, the country is preparing to recover lost ground with different initiatives. To know in detail the current situation and future plans, during IMEX America we have interviewed Pablo Sismanian, Director of Tourism Products at INPROTUR. We share their responses below: 

How does INPROTUR work towards the reopening of international tourism in Argentina?
We work to position Argentina as an international destination, in the MICE segment we focus on different destinations in the country that have a structure to hold events and are unique in their kind. Such a tough year 2020 helped us to generate promotional actions that have to do with social networks and communication, we have a promotion department that works very hard on that, generating its own material. The objective has been to enhance the position we had and keep ourselves in the mind of the potential tourist. During the pandemic we held many trade-oriented webinars in order to train and present Argentina's offer.
Now that our country is reopening tourism, we have participated in IMEX America with 18 exhibitors, they are companies and destinations that accompanied us in more than 300 meetings that have been held. We have made progress with events that we negotiated with for the first time.

What kinds of initiatives do you have planned for next season?
From now on, we already have other promotional actions planned in 2022, trusting in a much more stable situation. The calendars are once again accommodated to the 2019 schemes, our ideal is to participate in the fairs as was done previously but also to do trade missions and above all to directly visit emission agencies in the different countries generating direct contact to show what Argentina can offer.

What are the priority source markets?
Current statistics show that neighboring countries are the main source markets, mainly Chile and Brazil, but the United States is a super priority market due to the potential and the spillover generated in Argentina. Spain and Germany are other important markets.

How was Argentina positioned in the MICE segment prior to the pandemic and how are they working to recover this niche?
In the MICE segment, Argentina was the number one destination in Latin America according to the ICCA ranking, it has been an immense achievement that we have achieved after 12 years of work based on a very serious plan. Tourism in Argentina has been a State policy since 2008. Our national tourism law has been a model for other countries.
We are recovering connectivity, Viva Air will include 2 flights from its hub in Medellín, one to Buenos Aires and the other to Córdoba. They have also spoken with Air Canada to add routes from Canada and with Azul they are working to have more flights to São Paulo. As for the United States, American Airlines and Delta flights are already practically at pre-pandemic levels, so we are seeing a very favorable scenario, with new companies that are joining. In the Middle East we have high expectations, we are talking with Emirates and Qatar to recover routes that they had. It is important because they can connect us with the East as well.

How is the tourist infrastructure currently?
We are working with all the provinces, there has been a lot of support from the government to collaborate and avoid the closure of hotels and tourist services. The goal has not been easy at all. We are also working to attract investment and to have new hotels and new chains that are interested in our country.
Today we have 50 destinations prepared to receive all kinds of events, from up to 200 people in four and 5-star hotels to Convention Centers with space for large-scale events. It is important to note that we have highly trained professionals with extensive experience to meet these challenges.
In Argentina, planners will be able to carry out events in unique environments such as the Iguazú Falls, Patagonia, our destinations with vineyards, the mountains, the coastline and obviously the big cities like Buenos Aires.