In the month of April, 585,323 foreign tourists entered Argentina, 2% more than that registered in the same period of 2019. It is the first month in which the country exceeds the pre-pandemic figures and became one of the few countries in the region to achieve it. Visitor spending in April was $418 million, a figure also higher than in 2019.
In the first four months of the year, 4,555,511 foreign visitors entered the country, of which 2,529,326 were tourists (they spent at least one night in Argentina). These visitors spent 2 billion dollars in this four-month period.
The Minister of Tourism and Sports of the Nation, Matías Lammens, said: "We have very quickly recovered receptive tourism: it can be seen on the streets, in businesses and in restaurants in the City of Buenos Aires and in the main destinations from the country". And he added: "We have managed to be leaders in the region in terms of tourist arrivals and the role of Aerolíneas Argentinas was key in this achievement. Our flag carrier has added flights and frequencies that are managing to bring thousands of tourists from the region, of Spain, Italy and the United States". "We are confident that we are going to have a great winter season with very important numbers of visits. We have managed to make tourism the engine of job creation and companies throughout the country:
An outstanding piece of data from this first four-month period is the phenomenon of North American tourism: so far in 2023, more than 257,000 American tourists entered the country, a figure that exceeds pre-pandemic records by 16%, and spent 271 million dollars. The United States is the extra-regional market that brings the most tourists to Argentina, ranking fourth with 10.1% of the total, surpassing historically fruitful markets such as Paraguay, Bolivia and Spain. On average, the cost of US tourists is 1,272 dollars and their stay lasts a fortnight, well above those who come from neighboring countries such as Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.
The ranking of the countries that bring the most tourists to the country in 2023 is led by Chile, with 21.2%; Uruguay, with 16.1%; Brazil, with 15.1%; and the United States, with 10.1%. They are followed by Paraguay (7.2%), Bolivia (3.6%), Spain (3%), France (2.1%), Peru (2%), Germany (2%), United Kingdom (1.9 %), Colombia (1.8%), Italy (1.7%), Canada (1.6%) and Mexico (1.3%).
The access routes through which non-resident tourists entered so far in 2023 are: land, 49.2%; Air, 34.4%; and Fluvial/maritime, 16.4%. At the same time, the most used border crossings were the Ezeiza Airport, 21.9%; Airport, 9.3%; the Port of Buenos Aires, 8.7%; the International Bridge-Tancredo Neves, 6.6%; the Gualeguaychú-Fray Bentos Pass, 5.9%; and the Cristo Redentor Pass, 5.2%.