Tourist in Buenos Aires finds an expensive ticket, but a cheap stay

Foreign visitors who have started to visit Argentina again have found themselves with two contrasting scenarios: accommodation in hotels and apartments for rent over the internet are much cheaper than before the start of the pandemic, but flights are much more expensive.

Hoteliers and property owners are looking forward to the return of tourists, to make up for the 18 months they were practically empty, serving only internal tourism. During that period, people who were not Argentines or residents could not enter the country, apart from a few exceptions.

The measure was one of those imposed by decree by the local government to try to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The return of tourist activity, although desired by the local industry, is unlikely to happen so quickly. For a variety of reasons, taking planes out of the garage to reconnect the country is a difficult process in terms of maintenance and government clearance. There are fewer lines interconnecting Brazil and Argentina than before the pandemic, which makes tickets more expensive.

In addition, the exchange rate also harms Brazilian tourists, who have seen the real depreciate against the dollar, especially in recent weeks.

Of the large companies that connect the two countries, Latam will have 26 weekly flights between Buenos Aires and São Paulo. Before the pandemic, there were 35. Gol, on the other hand, which was not even operating on this route during the pandemic, will have 16 weekly flights between Brazil and Argentina, starting on December 19th. In 2019, there were 76.

But those who get a ticket will, in the coming weeks, be able to choose good accommodation deals. While hotels sell stays at up to 55% off, the owners of properties for rent, independently or via the Airbnb platform, for example, have lowered prices to attract people.

“I really need to rent. During all these months, we did what we could to keep all the apartments working, we even remodeled some of them. But we had to sell two of them to keep the others, and if tourism was closed any longer, we would have to sell more “, says Marla Servini, 56, who owns six properties in the Palermo region for the sole purpose of renting to tourists.

Carmen Tejedor, 42, who owns an apartment in Recoleta, says that her offer will only be for December. “If inflation continues as it is, I will have to raise prices in January. The economic situation is too complicated to charge little.”

In general, the cheap stay offers are concentrated in December. The following month, prices increase a little. If the stay is for more than a month, however, there is usually a 20% discount.

Through the Airbnb platform, apartments are available for rent in the second half of December between US$12 and US$26 (from R$66 to R$144) per night. In January, the lowest prices appear between US$ 28 and US$ 35 (R$ 155 to R$ 195) per day.

As for the hotels, around 30% remain closed temporarily, either because they are undergoing renovations, or because they have fired employees and have not yet recovered, or because they do not want to risk reopening at the risk of closing again soon.

Another 10% closed their doors forever. Among them are Castelar, in downtown Buenos Aires, and the Sheraton in Cordoba. One hundred and eighty-one establishments are for sale.

“In the first year [da pandemia], the government helped more. In the second, contributions to keep the business alive decreased. I believe that hotels in the provinces have remained better, because of internal tourism, but those in Buenos Aires have suffered a lot because they depend more on foreigners”, says Aldo Elías, vice president of the Argentine Chamber of Tourism and owner of the Hotel Presidente, near the Colon Theater

“I want to wait a while to see how the reactivation will be to open mine, because we can’t make another investment that later turns into a loss, if there is a new spike in the disease.”

During the first months of the pandemic, 40 hotels in the center served as shelters for the isolation of those arriving from abroad, paid for by the government. Then they gave way to Covid-19 patients who needed isolation. But these two uses did not yield as much as the normal functioning of buildings.

The objective of the city of Buenos Aires is that by 2023 the number of tourists visiting the city will return to the pre-pandemic level of 3 million per year.

“Brazilian tourists are an important part of this, but we are also going to encourage the arrival of students and digital nomads, with a program just for them. We are betting that one of the things that the pandemic left behind was the reinforcement of distance work, and this market should increase,” says Fernando Straface, secretary general and International Relations of Buenos Aires.

In 2019, the inflow of foreign exchange into the country due to international tourism was US$ 6.3 billion. In 2020, it didn’t reach 12% of that. In the Argentine tourism industry, 1.3 million people were employed. At least 170,000 employees in the sector lost their jobs in the pandemic.

The entry of Brazilians into Argentina has been allowed since October, when the country reopened for tourism in neighboring countries. Since this week, the borders are also open to visitors from the rest of the world. You must have completed the vaccination schedule for at least 14 days and a negative PCR test done in the country of origin 72 hours before the flight.

Anyone who comes without vaccination, but with PCR, must undergo quarantine for seven days, and a new PCR at the end of the period, being released if it is negative. It is also necessary to respond to a sworn statement before arriving in the country.