Argentina already received more than 2.5 million tourists in 2022

According to the report issued by the National Institute for Tourism Promotion (Inprotur), 1,367,408 tourists are equivalent to a recovery of 36% of the pre-pandemic total, marking an important reactivation process. In this context, the Executive Secretary of Inprotur, Ricardo Sosa, pointed out that “international tourism entities, in different fields, mention that this year the countries will not recover more than 50% of pre-pandemic tourism income. We, in Argentina, are already almost 40% recovered and another intense semester lies ahead, so these numbers show that the reactivation of international receptive tourism is underway”.

Sosa specified that from the statistical analysis of income generated by Inprotur, interesting data emerged:

The top 10 tourist sending countries in the first half of 2022 are made up, in that order, of Brazil (which has already reached 300,000 tourists), Uruguay (exceeded 226,000 tourists), Chile, Paraguay, the United States, Spain, Bolivia, Peru, France and Colombia.

In this sense, the ranking of the recovery percentage of each market compared to the same pre-pandemic period (1st semester of 2022 vs. 1st semester of 2019), shows that the first place is occupied by Spain with a 61% recovery, Uruguay follows with 60%; Mexico with 49%, the United States with 47% and Brazil with 41%.

Sosa specified that from this analysis “we can mention that Brazil had a significant recovery that began to be noticed in terms of arrival by air from April 2022, when frequencies were increased, especially those of Aerolineas Argentinas, and by land. since March, when the entry through border crossings tended to normalize. Precisely, by land, it stands out that in the month of May and June, Brazil exceeded 100% of income that it had in those same months of 2019. Thus, Brazil shows a recovery of 61% by land, ranking second in the top 5 income this way”.

"From Inprotur we maintained a strong digital presence throughout the pandemic and from the moment of reopening in October 2021 we were present in person in different cities and events," added Sosa. She recalled that two days after the borders were reopened “we went to Fortaleza to the Abav Fair to publicize the news from Argentina. Then in November we were in São Paulo at the Panrotas Forum and in the same month in Gramado, at Festuris, a fair in southern Brazil. Our actions continued with presentations to tour operators and travel agencies in Curitiba, Brasilia, Porto Alegre, Manaus, Goiania, but we were also at the WTM San Pablo, Ugart in Porto Alegre and the Paranaense fairs, among others. In addition, we generated presentations of the new Aerolineas Argentinas flights and during November and December we had activations on public roads in six cities in Brazil. And through an agreement with the tour operator Mondiale, we held a road show for a month and a half in 15 cities in 5 states of Brazil that impacted 550 Brazilian travel agents. And we already have another series of actions scheduled for the second half of the year to consolidate the Brazilian market as the most important issuer of tourists to Argentina”.

As for Uruguay, it should be noted that it is the second market with the highest overall recovery (60% compared to the pre-pandemic), by land it occupies the first place (66%) and there are very interesting data to mention: if we compare May 2022 As of May 2019, Uruguay not only fully recovered but grew by 163%, and the same thing happened in June, with 160% recovery and growth. Uruguay also leads the ranking of percentage recovery by river with 60%, showing peaks as in May 2022, with 105% recovery and growth compared to the pre-pandemic. “In that sense, from Inprotur we have generated digital campaigns, but also on public roads in cooperation with the nautical companies that transport Uruguayan tourists and with the presence of the Minister, Matías Lammens,

In the case of Chile, a significant growth in its recovery percentage is observed as of April, encouraged by the increase in air frequencies and the normalization of border crossings. “In this case, in August we plan to carry out a trade mission in Santiago and Concepción. The airlines are also recovering frequencies and we are seeing a great demand for reservations, ”he explained.

To highlight is the reaction of the United States market (more than 100,000 North American tourists have already entered): it is 5th in the general ranking of income, but 4th in the percentage recovery ranking (47%). “If we take revenues by air, the US is second and since January it has always maintained a recovery of more than 60% and peaks of 77% in June, as a result of the almost total normalization of pre-pandemic air frequencies” , considered Ricardo Sosa. In this framework, he recalled that “apart from digital activations, we participate in fairs aimed at the final public such as the Travel and Adventure Show in California and New York.

Another similar situation is that of the Spanish market. It was the one that recovered the most percentage-wise of all the issuing markets to Argentina with 61% (almost 65 thousand tourists admitted). This good reaction from Spain is observed during the first six months of the year, always above 50%. Regarding the analysis of income by air, Spain is first with a 74% half-year recovery and from January to March it was the market that consolidated the most, always above 70% recovery of income compared to the same period of 2019 “This happens, due to the fact that the air frequencies are almost at the same levels as the pre-pandemic and the strong promotion that we face in Spain, first betting heavily on the Fitur fair in 2021, when nobody imagined that there could be a closeness of reopening, there we won the award for the best stand and we projected a reopening of borders for the last few months, something that happened. Right there we generated public activations and then they continued with participation in other smaller fairs and the consolidated commitment in Fitur 2022, where we were able to specify commitments to recover frequencies from Iberia, Air Europa and Aerolineas Argentinas”, explained Sosa.

He analyzed that the 1,367,048 foreign tourists entering the country is the most obvious example of this recovery process, 80% of airlines that flew to Argentina in the pre-pandemic recovered frequencies and announced more flights, but also others that never did so began to fly new destinations. For example, Aerolineas Argentina generated historic flights by connecting San Pablo (Brazil) with Salta and Tucuman in northern Argentina for the first time; Viva Air began to connect Medellin with Buenos Aires for the first time in history, Sky began to fly for the first time between Lima and Buenos Aires and Jet Smart will do the same in a very short time. “These issues are symbols not only of the reactivation but of the growth that we seek to generate from the very moment of the arrival of our management.