Niche tourism in Argentina is flourishing. Various organizations and associations announced planned boost and promotion of ecotourism, Gay tourism, and language travel sector. The Ministry of Tourism confirmed its support of the projects.
The organizations and associations working in ecotourism as well as gay and language tourism pledged to strengthen efforts to develop and promote Argentina as a friendly country for different tourism market segments within a public-private partnership framework.
According to the agreement signed by the Tourism Minister, Alejandro Lastra, this cooperation presents an opportunity to reach separate but related niche tourism markets by boosting each product through the partnership project.
Supporting these minor segments of the travel industry is expected to help achieve Argentina the goal of 3 million international arrivals by 2019, according to the Tourism Minister.
The president of the Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce of Argentina (CCGLAR), Pablo De Luca, noted that luxury and LGBT tourism cut across all products falling under the Ministry of Tourism, as evidenced by the signing of this agreement and the agreement signed this year with Destination Argentina.
Moreover, De Luca announced that work is being done on a proposal to create a quality standard so that all members of the associations belonging to the CAT (Cámara Argentina de Turismo) will have basic training in principles that ensure quality when welcoming gay tourists into the country.
Representing another niche tourism in Argentine, the head of the Association of Language Centres (SEA), Martín García, said that the signing of the agreement is an excellent opportunity to strengthen the inter-institutional effort through CAT.
"Little by little we have started signing agreements between tourism products that are connected to each other and we can also generate promotion and training development activities that are properly linked, and we can pool our efforts because we have a culture of partnership and participation," he added. The association brings together more than 120 schools teaching Spanish for foreigners.
The head of the Argentina Association of Ecotourism and Adventure Tourism, Carlos Pelli, said that coming to a table like this one to sign an agreement with the CCGLAR and the Association of Language Centres is very important. "It sets the standard for the maturity and importance that the niche tourism product is assuming in the market, as we enter a new phase for developing these products with strong international exposure and strong local commitment," he declared.