Tourists Have Latin America Locked on their Radar Screens

Latin American capitals, from the southernmost cone to the Caribbean, are increasingly becoming attraction centers for thousands of sunbathers hailing from the U.S. and Europe.

This summer, in addition to beach travels to the Caribbean, other destinations like Rio de Janeiro, Costa Rica´s San Jose and Colombia´s Cartagena de Indias are welcoming more and more travelers.

Such cities as Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Santo Domingo are drawing ever-growing numbers of trippers with a burning desire to enjoy hotels, food treats and stores at much lower prices than those they find in their own countries, something –experts say- that´s destined to benefit the region in the near future.

For some experts, the main reason behind this interest lies in a favorable exchange rate of the dollar to the euro and to the local currencies, a situation that turns these nations into red-hot travel destinations.

According to a recent poll conducted in 144 countries by Mercer Human Resources, a London-based organization that gauges the cost of living worldwide in terms of U.S. dollars, roughly a dozen Latin American burgs rank among the top-20 cheapest cities on the face of the earth.

In line with the survey, the cheapest city in the Western Hemisphere is Paraguay´s Asuncion, followed closely by Montevideo, Bogota, Quito, Caracas, Rio de Janeiro, San Jose (Costa Rica), Sao Paolo and Santiago de Chile.

On the flip side, the priciest cities on earth are Tokyo, London and Moscow. This year, New York City left the top-ten chart and finished at number 12 among the world´s most expensive urban areas. Miami slid from number 27 to 55, an indication that the cost of living in South Florida is going el cheapo compared to other cities.

Puerto Rico´s San Juan took the cake as the costliest Latin American city at number 65, way over such American burgs as Boston, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas and Seattle.

”If we reckon the cost of living in those Latin American cities in their local currency, you find out that it´s really high. But rendered in U.S. dollars, you can live there for a song and a dance,” says Ivan Farber, a consultant at Mercer HR. “The purchasing power of tourists with greenbacks is far bigger than what the official exchange rate actually indicates.”

”People travel to Argentina because they like buying wines, leatherwear, clothing and books at very low prices,” comments George Wainer, owner of Vista South America, the Miami-based tour operator that sells most travel packages to Buenos Aires and Bariloche. “To the eyes of U.S. and Canadian citizens, the price of food is ridiculously low and tourists barely need ten bucks in their pockets to have three good meals a day.”

This currency exchange edge could also foster the coming of more foreign investors and transnational corporations to Latin America, even when the ripple effect of the devaluation process on the local economies is negative.