The Minister of Tourism and Sports of the Nation, Matías Lammens, participated in the first day of the ITB International Tourism Fair, which takes place at the Messe Berlin fairgrounds in the German capital.
With the aim of strengthening the Argentine presence in Germany, the minister held meetings with representatives of important cruise companies, such as the president of the Board of Directors of TUI Group, Wybcke Meier, and the director of Antarpply Expeditions, Ute Hohn-Bowen. On the other hand, he held audiences with the South American Product Manager of DER Touristik Deutschland, Birgit Taslidza; and with the Regional Director of Europe of Air Europa, María del Mar Ayudarte.
"This fair represents a great opportunity for Argentina. We want to increase the flow from markets that were finishing recovering from the pandemic, such as China and Europe, to continue promoting the recovery of incoming tourism that we are observing in the first months of the year and we're very excited about it," Lammens said.
During the day, the Undersecretary for Strategic Development, Eugenia Benedetti, gave a presentation on "The Natural Route", the program of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports for the promotion and development of nature tourism throughout the country. The initiative obtained financing from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for 33 million dollars to strengthen destinations throughout the country with infrastructure, promotion of private investments and quality actions, training and support for providers.
The Argentine delegation in the European country has the presence of the Secretary of Tourism Promotion, Yanina Martínez; the executive secretary of INPROTUR, Ricardo Sosa; the president of the Argentine Chamber of Tourism, Gustavo Hani; and the Deputy Head of Mission of the Argentine Embassy in Germany, Tomás Villalba. Authorities from FAEVYT and FEHGRA and from the tourism areas of Argentine municipalities and provinces also participated, along with 21 private sector companies.
More than 26,000 tourists from Germany have already arrived in Argentina so far in 2023. The figure is the second highest in relation to European countries, behind Spain, which has already brought more than 33,000 visitors to the country.