From Salta, the Chamber of Tourism points out that the main problem is “the drop in consumption.” The Mediterránea and Encuentro foundations warn that “it is expensive to do tourism in the country.”
With the imminent closure of October in the provinces they begin to prepare for the summer vacation season that will start in December but from Salta they prefer not to get too excited. “The big problem is that there is no consumption and when people don’t have enough money, the first thing they stop doing is going out to eat or traveling,” he said. Juan Lucero, president of the Chambers of Tourism and Hospitality, Gastronomic and Related.
The businessman warned that in recent months there have been consumption drops of between 30% and 35% in hotels, and around 40% in gastronomy, to which is added the loss of profitability. That is, in some places, such as Cafayateoccupancy levels were good but the business community was affected by the high costs of public services, with increases of up to 400%, such as electricity and gas.
In relation to the summer season, Lucero predicts difficult months. “Historically, Salta has 50% occupancy in summer, a figure that we will not exceed due to this year of crisisbut we will do everything possible to get closer to that number,” he expressed. And in relation to the characteristics of the average tourist they expect, he explained that “the gas mode predominates.” “It will be more austere because those who went out and took two or three excursions, now makes one. “He who went out to dinner every night, now perhaps makes a mess and that drop is noticeable in the per capita consumption that we record when we do the statistics.”
The statements of this businessman are in line with the report of the Argentine Confederation of Medium Enterprises (CAME) on the impact of the long weekend Day of Respect for Cultural Diversitywhich mobilized 1.4 million tourists throughout the country, who spent $228,479 million in the cities that are part of the national tourist circuit. According to the entity, compared to the same weekend last year, 7.1% fewer people traveled and the economic impact had a real drop of 33.3%. This is explained, among other reasons, because the exchange rate at that time made the country a more convenient destination for international visitors.
In recent weeks, there were also reports from two entities that focused on tourism that generated a yellow alert for what is to come. The Mediterranean Foundation explained that during the first half of the year, outbound tourism demanded US$3.9 billion and the balance (net of income from inbound tourism) was negative, for US$1.4 billion. “From the examination of trends, it is possible to predict that during the year the demand for dollars from outbound tourism will approach US$7.5 billion, and the balance could be around a net outflow of US$2.7 billion (with income of incoming tourism for around US$ 4.8 billion), according to preliminary estimates,” said a document bearing the signatures of economists Marcos Cohen Arazi and Vanessa Toselli.
For Mediterránea, taking into account that the devaluation of the peso will continue in the order of 2% per month, “the magnitude of the imbalance could increase especially next summer,” he warned. Another element to add is that searches associated with outbound tourism “grew at a rate of 54% year-on-year in September, while those for domestic tourism fell by 15%, reflecting renewed interest in tourism options outside the country, to the detriment of tourism in the country”.
On the other hand, since the Encuentro Foundation, based on information from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC)indicated that “the growth of outbound tourism over incoming tourism generates a deficit in the sector’s trade balance and anticipates a critical summer season.” Along these lines, he pointed out that “tourism in our country is expensive. The industry presents eight months of constant decline, with a deficit balance of US$3,347 million accumulated between January and August.” “Without incentives for tourism consumption, without price regulation and tariff relief, the future of this industry is not uncertain, it is devastating,” the report emphasized.
Source: Ambito
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