The gastronomy sector is part of the areas linked to consumption that still sees their sales suffer. Until October, the accumulated fall oscillates between 7% and 20%. In year-on-year terms, that percentage doubles in some cases. Added to the decline in purchasing power is another warning factor: the decrease in the number of tourists in the country; in the case of foreigners as a result of the increase in prices in Argentine dollars
The numbers are reflected on the restaurant chairs. Naturally, it does not affect everyone equally, but it does appear as a common factor among the sources consulted: a slow and heterogeneous recovery of purchasing power, the decrease in tourists in the country adds up.
The losses in the gastronomic sector reach up to 20%
Dante Camanosecretary general of the Union of Tourism, Hotel and Gastronomic Workers of the Argentine Republic (UTHGRA) CABA section, indicated to this medium that the accumulated decline in gastronomy ranges between 7% and 20%.
“The decline in tourism is notable. Currency appreciation makes us more expensive”, said the gastronomic leader. At the same time, he warned that on the beaches of Punta del Este, Uruguay, “Three-size hotels are no longer available, four or five stars” because “all the Argentines took over.”
The same dynamic is seen in Brazil, where it also highlights that eating can be up to 40% cheaper. “We are going to lack people,” Camaño projects.
An example of the situation was reported by Claudio Olivaresrestaurant and grill owner “Lalo’s thing”. When consulted by Ámbito about the drop in sales, he said that in the first half of October last year 917 people entered to eat, counting the cutlery. In the same period of 2024, registered 535 diners. A drop of 42%.
”A year ago, there were endless lines of Brazilians to eat and listen to tango,” Olivares recalled. The counterpart was a notable exchange difference in favor of touristsand one gap between the official dollar and the financial ones of up to 170% in October, at that time marked as a “record” by city analysts.
Exchange appreciation: what happened between one year and another
Some time later, the dynamics of the exchange rate began to change and the scenario varied significantly. The dollar does not move at a speed greater than 2% per month and the exchange rate gap is around 10%.
According to the publication on his X account, for the economist Amilcar Collante the wholesale dollar is located 9.8% above the one that Sergio Massa left after his time as Minister of Economy, 8.5% above the dollar left by the second presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and 7.3% more expensive than the average $926 at the end of Convertibility, adjusted to current values.
In turn, the Index of Multilateral Real Exchange Rate It is at 82 points compared to the theoretical equilibrium level of 100. That is to say: it is noted by a real appreciation of the peso by 18 percentage points, with respect to the currencies of the main trading partners.
Tourists and locals according to areas
Unlike what Olivares said, a manager of a restaurant in Puerto Madero who preferred to speak off, made an observation about the case. “There is a decrease in tourists, yes, but we were able to compensate it with an increase in the national audience”. This cut was seen mainly in European tourists, but not so much in visitors from neighboring countries.
For the union leader within the gastronomy, the casualties are not recorded as noticeably in restaurants in areas with high purchasing power, as they are in establishments further away from the epicenter of the night.
From his view, the conflict between Aerolíneas Argentinas and the aeronautical unions “did not contribute to the arrival of tourists, because it caused a loss of connectivity” and he notes, despite a marked slowdown in the price of food, a distortion of key input valueslike meat or vegetables, for example.
The gastronomic sector increased its prices above inflation
Despite the situation described, the INDEC marked an increase in 4.3% in the sector “Restaurants and Hotels”above the 2.7% general CPI. For Olivares, this increase is explained by the increase in fixed costs and the difficulty of continuing to reduce profitability.
“What most affects the loss of business is the drastic increase in fixed costs: inputs to be able to produce, rent, the rates that increase,” he highlighted.
In turn, the differences in the dynamics of wage recovery is a factor that explains the difficulties in consolidating the recovery of consumption.
In that sense, the economist Juan Manuel Telecheadirector of the Institute of Work and Economy of the Germán Abdala Foundation (ITE), pointed out that private sector workers had an increase in September 0.3% against inflationbut they were located -1.6% below November 2023while those in the public sector had a 0.4% recoverybut -16.1% below the same month.
Source: Ambito
