At a meeting in the city of Asunción, Travel2latam spoke with Javier Ramírez, General Director of Tourism Products of the National Secretariat of Tourism of Paraguay.
What is your view on the current state of the tourism market in Paraguay?
In Paraguay we are about to enter the high season starting in September with the spring and above all we are starting with the important events in terms of meeting tourism. We have major events that will take place next quarter, and important sporting events such as the Latin American Special Olympics Games.
Meeting tourism is greatly strengthened at this time of year, and is one of the main axes of the Minister of Tourism's management. A few months ago, the World Rally Championship was also confirmed, which will be held in Paraguay for three consecutive years starting in 2025.
In all the efforts currently being made by the National Tourism Secretariat, there is a special focus on this segment, not only in Asunción, but also in other important departmental capitals such as Encarnación and Ciudad del Este, where together with the convention bureaus we are working on attracting and developing many events.
Which regions are a priority for international promotion?
On the one hand, there is Asunción as the urban capital. We know that at a regional level, there is a great interest from the Argentine and Brazilian markets, who come in search of shopping, entertainment, golf and to enjoy the convenient prices that the capital has. It also has the urban area with very good gastronomy and hotels. And we also have the regions of “El Circuito de Oro” (The Gold Circuit) that are close to Asunción, and the departments of Cordillera, which are located an hour or an hour and a half away, where we have the artisan cities and the circuit of the Paraguayan sugarcane route.
In San Bernardino, you will find the emblematic Lake Ypacaraí, and it is a very important city for us in the summer. The south of the country has the Jesuit route in the Encarnación area, which has a very good gastronomic and hotel offer, and 30 kilometers from there is the border with Posadas, where we have the Jesuit Missions, a world heritage site, which in addition to daytime visits also offer nighttime experiences. And 15 minutes from there are the areas of the main yerba mate plantations, the yerba mate route.
So the experience of the Jesuit route is very well combined with nature, adventure, cultural, gastronomic and yerba mate experiences. In addition, one of the main tourist regions promoted nationally and internationally is Ciudad del Este and the border area that we share with Argentina and Brazil, the trinational zone, where in addition to having Ciudad del Este as a shopping destination par excellence, there is the Itaipu tourist complex, which receives a large number of visitors to places of nature, such as the Iguazu Falls. This combines very well for a long-distance tourist who comes to see the falls on the Argentine and Brazilian side, but who obviously also stays in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, and enjoys shopping and gastronomy.
Which markets are strategic for you in terms of development?
The regional market is extremely important, as is continuing to strengthen connectivity. This year we have recovered the Asunción-Córdoba connection, currently with the company Paranair. Let us remember that there is a lot of Argentine investment in Paraguay as well and when we had that flight, it was a destination that was in high demand by Argentines. In that line of work we are also looking to recover the flight to Asunción-Salta, which is in negotiations.
In addition, starting in December we will have better connections with Brazil. Today we have Asuncion-Sao Paulo, but we will have Asuncion-Curitiba, Asuncion-Florianopolis, Asuncion-Campinas, Asuncion-Recife with the help of Azul. So regional connectivity is getting stronger. It is extremely important to have direct flights and not depend on so many stopovers.
The open skies agreement between the Government of Paraguay and Argentina also allows flexibility for airlines to plan new routes and destinations. And obviously at the long-distance level we hope to soon recover the connection with the United States, since we are missing a direct flight from Asunción to Miami or another city. This is an objective that the government has also set.
We hope to announce new routes soon, because within the framework of the Open Skies Agreement many Argentine cities have approached us.
The final stage of promotion is coming this year. At what events will you be performing?
First of all, we will be at FIT Buenos Aires, one of the most important fairs in Latin America. We will be attending with a relevant delegation from Paraguay, since the Argentine market has always responded very well, and it is very important for the private, hotel and operator sector. So we look forward to seeing you all at the Paraguay stand, and we also invite you all to the Paraguay International Tourism Fair.
FITPAR will be held on October 11, 12 and 13 in Asunción, at the Mariscal López Convention Center, which is also a very important showcase for us to show the best that Paraguay has to offer. We will have many international exhibitors, but also a national pavilion that is becoming stronger every year with the offerings from the different departments and destinations in our country.
Then, in the first days of October, we will be at the South American Bird Festival, which is an event that will be brought to Paraguay in 2026. In addition, we will be carrying out some trade missions with the private sector on September 25 in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, with a presentation of Paraguay as a tourist and investment destination together with Red 10, which is the Paraguayan investment and export network. We will also be in the city of Córdoba in the first days of November. Then we are preparing for Fitur 2025 in January.
What goals have you set in terms of numbers for this year and what is your vision for next year?
So far this year, compared to last year, we are doing very well, we are at very promising figures, but above all we need to close this coming quarter because it is the big events that contribute significantly to the number of visitor revenues. So we hope to close a very positive year in terms of tourist revenues and foreign currency.
Thanks to the connectivity that is currently being strengthened, we hope that with specific promotional actions and in alliances with our peers in other countries we can work on markets that imply new possibilities for tourism to and from Paraguay.
What feedback do you receive at the fairs, conventions or tours in which you participate?
The long-distance market generally always tells us that they know little about us, but for niche markets we are opening up other very important opportunities.
This year we were at the Religious Tourism event in Portugal, as a guest country. We were accompanied by operators who sell the product, with the Paraguayan Chamber of Tourism of the Jesuit Missions. And there was really a lot of interest from operators to connect Paraguay with regional religious tourism packages that they already offer from long distance.
We also had an agreement with the Pellegrinaggi Roman Opera of the Vatican Tourism Agency. The first group is arriving in September as a result of this promotional work, to discover a religious tourism itinerary that obviously combines the best of nature and culture in our country. So we are opening up to new and very important markets.
We will be at the South American Bird Fair, because it is an important market niche that operators who specialize in marketing these tourist packages in Paraguay are working on. Regarding meeting tourism, we also know that it is a different profile from the corporate one that comes, which spends well.
Paraguay is becoming known for these products, and we obviously have to strengthen our promotional actions to take advantage of other opportunities at an international level and connect with new operators, especially long-distance operators, who are currently paying special attention to Paraguay.