Operator Enters Argentina, Eyes Further Expansion

The global economy may well be shrinking, but one of Latin America’s largest tour operators is very much growing. Quito, Ecuador-based Metropolitan Touring, which operates across mainland Ecuador, the Galapagos and Peru, has announced that it is taking the plunge into one of the region’s largest economies, Argentina.

“It’s a very important strategic move for us,” said Veronica Sevilla, who manages Latin American sales for Metropolitan. “We see this as an opportunity.”

The new Metropolitan Touring Argentina will focus its packages on the nation’s cosmopolitan capital, Buenos Aires, as well as on glacier tours of Argentine Patagonia, select Andean destinations and Iguazu Falls.

Operations will be undertaken through a recent Argentine acquisition, Cuatro Rumbos, and conducted in partnership with operator Explora, a specialist in experiential tours to Chile. Explora operates upmarket properties in Atacama, Chilean Patagonia and Easter Island.

South America’s second-largest economy is a logical growth target for Metropolitan, which serves about 28,000 travelers a year (53 percent of whom are from the U.S.). Still, expansion into this market is not without its risks.

Argentina, which has ridden a roller coaster of economic and political fortunes for decades, seems once again poised for a wild ride. After six years of solid economic growth and political stability under former President Nestor Kirchner, the nation is reeling under Kirchner’s successor and wife, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

Widespread protests and work stoppages by the nation’s farmers are threatening Kirchner’s ability to govern. Exacerbating the domestic crisis is the global economic recession, which is beginning to hit Argentina with full force. The Economist Intelligence Unit predicts that the Argentine economy will contract by 2.8 percent this year.