A blog of the Latin America Program
Argentina on Sale
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Argentina on Sale
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Vacation planners do not typically hunt for countries experiencing economic crises, but Argentina’s repeated devaluations since 2018 have made the country a bargain for tourists. So despite relentlessly negative publicity for its economic conditions, it is an increasingly attractive option for U.S. travelers daydreaming about holiday plans.
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Indeed, tourism to Argentina is a silver lining in an otherwise limping economy. In 2017, foreign tourists brought inÌýÌýto Argentina’s dollar-starved economy. When domestic tourists are included, the sector now accounts for almost 4 percent of GDP. In the first three months of this year, the number of foreign visitors increased byÌýÌýcompared to the same period last year, including aÌýÌýincrease in Brazilian visitors.
Katie Hopkins
But Argentina has also made efforts to boost its tourism sector, and not only by devaluing the peso.
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Though many tourists cluster in cosmopolitan Buenos Aires, Argentina is blessed with diverse landscapes, numerous world heritage sites and affordable wine. But getting around the large country has long been costly and cumbersome.
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Recently, that has begun to change, as President Mauricio Macri opens the country’s heavily protected aviation sector. In 2016, a set of reforms allowedÌýÌýto compete with the national carrier, AerolÃneas Argentinas, and with the slow and costly coach bus service that had been the mainstay of long-distance travel. As a result, Argentina’s airline industry has seen sustained growth in demand and falling prices, allowing millions of Argentines to fly for the first time and boosting domestic tourism.
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Mr. Macri has also invested in basic infrastructure, including airports and roads in the interior.
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U.S. tourists to Argentina also benefited from a policy change in 2016, when Mr. Macri waived the $160 visa fee.
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Though improved tourism is not enough to rescue Argentina’s economy, it has helped Argentina reduce its current account deficit, and it nowÌýÌýfor 629,000 jobs. Amid all the economic setbacks in recent years, the thriving tourism industry is a welcome upside to Argentina’s latest downturn.
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In part, Argentina is piggybacking off a brisk increase in global tourism, which last year saw itsÌýÌýconsecutive year of growth.
Eli French
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Latin America Program
°ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action. Read more
Argentina Project
The Argentina Project is the premier institution for policy-relevant research on politics and economics in Argentina.Ìý Read more
