Argentina Hopes to Buttress Tourism in 2004

The Argentinean government expects to come in for some 18 million national and foreign travelers this year, in what authorities believe will be the mightiest strengthening of the local leisure sector after the economic crisis that swept the nation in 2001 and most of 2002.

A report issued by Argentina’s Tourism Department revealed that 3.6 million foreign tourists visited the country in 2003, up 4.8 percent from the year before.

In addition to that figure and amid the impossibility of traveling abroad, millions of Argentines opted to sally forth across their own turf, coupled with scores of Europeans, Brazilians, Americans, Chileans and Spaniards.

The document says chances of cracking the 18 million-tourist plateau in 2004 are looking good thanks to the social and economic stability that reign in the country since President Nestor Kirchner took office in May 2003. This situation –the report indicates- is drawing visitors to Argentina.

The rebound of the local leisure industry is seen clearly in Buenos Aires. Authorities in the nation’s capital expect to welcome a record high 1.6 million tourists in the first quarter of the ongoing year alone.

Such a massive inflow could yield revenues in the neighborhood of $100 and $120 million if travelers –already lured by superb cuisine and great transportation- take advantage of low price tags on such items as clothing, footwear, wines and toys.

A similar increase in the number of tourists is taking place in Patagonia and Mr. Kirchner has something to do with it. The Argentinean president hails from this neck of the woods and he has spent some time of his own promoting his hometown in every national or international event he has attended.

Only in the case of the Ushuaia region, officials there hope to snare 140,000 tourists, a figure most experts believed likely in the year 2010. Earnings this year in that same location could amount to $40 million.