The closing of the 2022 summer season confirmed what was already anticipated. This year, millions of Argentines vacationed in Argentina, surpassing the pre-pandemic numbers and setting a new record.
The information was released by the Argentine Confederation of Medium-sized Companies (CAME in Spanish) last week and reveals that 32.3 million Argentines traveled throughout the country, with an average stay of 4.6 days, generating a direct investment in tourism in Argentina reaching $584,619 million pesos.
"There were 44.1% more tourists than in the summer of 2021 and the expenditure was 92.7% higher," says the CAME report, additionally the report mentions that the reason for the increase is that 10 million Argentines traveled more than last year and because the average stay went from 3.8 days to 4.6.
"We are ending a record summer season, one of the best in the last 20 years, with more than 32 million people travelling around our country's destinations. This is great news because it shows us not only that tourism is recovering, but that it is growing exponentially," said Matías Lammens, Minister of Tourism and Sports.
On the other hand, the minister did not fail to mention that the results are partly explained by a program called Previaje (Pretravel), the tourism promotion program that helped domestic destinations and reached 4.5 million Argentines. "We are excited about what is to come: tourism in Argentina is generating a rapid recovery of employment and shows us that it is already a driving force for economic growth in all regions of Argentina," concluded Lammens.
In any case, it is logical that this season has been superior to that of the year 2021, since at that time Argentine society was coming out of a period of greater restrictions and maintained a more reserved posture towards travel, in a context of the pandemic.
What happens if we make a comparison to the summer of 2020? This is where CAME put the focus, since this summer season surpassed the pre-pandemic numbers. The number of tourists grew by 2.4 percent compared to that year when the Covid-19 was just beginning to be heard about, as well as the average stay days, which grew by 10 percent from 4.2 days to 4.6. Total spending showed a biannual growth of 20 percent.
Another of the habits that became popular this season was short getaways. "Excursionists", as CAME calls them, Excursionists are travelers who visited a destination during the day, but did not spend the night there and returned home. Adding this group to the total number of summer travelers, the number of trips made rises from 32.3 million to 66.8 million and the total economic impact, in the form of direct spending, reaches $635,920 million pesos, i.e. nearly USD 6 billion at the official exchange rate.
Thus, Argentine tourism had a more than favorable summer season, with high occupancy levels and thousands of services in the incredibly varied destinations offered by Argentina. One of the sectors that suffered the most from the pandemic and its severe restrictions on travel, had a good season that not only helped it to recover its economy, but also strengthened it for the future, positioning itself as an industry capable of satisfying any tourist.