Tourism: hotel occupancy fell by 11.7% during winter holidays, marking the worst record since the pandemic

According to the Hotel Occupancy Survey (EOH)published this Friday by the INDEC1,666,327 travelers were registered throughout the country, which meant a 11.7% collapse compared to July 2023. It was also the worst July since 2021, when tourism was still severely affected by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Eight out of ten guests were residentsWithin this group, the main destinations chosen were the North (19%) and Patagonia (17%).

Tourism in more expensive destinations and establishments is falling

Precisely It was in the southern provinces (which tend to be more expensive) where the fall was deepest, with a negative variation of 17.8%.escorted by the decrease suffered by hotels in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA), with 16% fewer resident travelers. Only Córdoba was able to sustain a similar number to that seen at the same time last year.

Meanwhile, CABA was the district that had the most non-residents received. In this segment of travelers, the declines in hotel occupancy in the Litoral (where the trip to Iguazu Falls stands out) and in the North stood out.both above 20%. On the other hand, foreign visits to Cuyo grew, while tourism in this segment in Patagonia remained almost stable.

As for the type of establishment, the recession was felt in the 17.1% drop in bookings at four- and five-star hotelsmuch higher than the -5.5% observed for one- and two-star models.

Besides, The overall hotel occupancy rate (TOH), i.e. the percentage of occupied hotels out of the total, fell to 45%when in July 2023 it had been 51.7% and in July 2022 53.5%.

The most visited locations by each region were BarilochePuerto Iguazú, the City of Salta, the City of Mendoza, Mar del Plata and Villa Carlos Paz.

It is worth noting that, in addition to the deep recession, there is the exchange rate appreciation as another factor that drives tourism out of the country, because other countries (such as Chile in the region) become more attractive due to their lower cost of living in dollars.