The president of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, announced and a new tourism development plan for the period between 2016 and 2019. The main goal is to boost domestic as well as international tourism. The initiative will be coordinated on all levels of the national government through the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Tourism Facilitation and the Federal Tourism Council.
According to the president, through the Argentina tourism development plan a minimum of 300,000 new jobs will be created by 2020, with a direct investment of 11.7 billion pesos.
“Internally it is estimated that we will reach 70 million domestic tourists with a total spending of 170 billion pesos and, on the international front, an inflow of 9 million tourists bringing in about 8 billion dollars," said Mr. Macri.
Referring to the statistics available, the president pointed out that last year there was a decline in the sector. Tourism demand is stagnant, with lower levels of tourist arrivals than in 2012, and with international inbound tourism at 2011 levels, according to data supplied by the Tourism Ministry.
Mr. Macri said that during the 2013/15 period, there was a decrease of 3.5 million passengers in domestic tourism, and also that Argentinian foreign tourism did not do well either. "The good news is that in the first quarter of this year there was an improvement regarding the tourists from the US, Europe and Asia, but the amount of Brazilian visitors went sharply down," said Mr. Macri noting that tourists from Brazil lead the list of source countries for inbound tourism.
The aim of the new tourism development plan, the Federal Tourism Plan 2016-2019, is to once again re-position Argentina as an important tourism player.
According to Oscar Ghezzi, president of the Argentine Chamber of Tourism (CAT) the plan confirms that the industry is still part of the strategic government policy for the development of the regional economies and job creation. “It is a sign of our conviction about the direction of our efforts over the next four years – to what end and by what means we will try to achieve the goals that will be our working vision."
The President linked the announcement of the Argentina tourism development plan to the main goal set by his government – zero poverty. According to him, tourism is an opportunity for further development of the economy.
The agreement was signed by a delegation from the Association of Hotels and Restaurants of the Republic of Argentina (FEHGRA) in the presence of Luis Barrionuevo and almost all players in the sector, such as the Argentina Federation of Travel Businesses and Tourism (FAEVYT), the Association of Tourist-Class Hotels of Argentina (AHT), the Argentina Polo Association (AAP), the Argentina Chamber of Hostels (CAH), the Argentina Chamber of Timeshare (CATC), the Argentina Chamber of Car Rental Companies (CADEA) and the Chamber of Airline Companies in Argentina (JURCA), among others.