The economic situation in Argentina is attracting the interest of Brazilians. Less for indices and more for tourism. With the crisis in the neighboring country, currently, R$ 1 is equivalent to 26 Argentine pesos.
In this scenario, agency companies and airlines are already registering an increase in the search and demand for travel to Argentine territory.
According to data from the flight search engine Viajala, Buenos Aires is the second most searched international destination departing from São Paulo in the last three months, between May and July, behind only Lisbon, Portugal.
According to the company, searches for Buenos Aires increased 163% in relation to the first months of the year, and the average price of a round-trip ticket dropped by around 8%. In the last 3 months, the average price found on the platform for return flights from São Paulo to Buenos Aires was R$1,789.
Rodrigo Melo, sales director at Viajala, explains that Brazilians are seeing the possibility that the real will be more valued than the Argentine peso and, consequently, “he will have access to cheaper products and services than usual”.
The search engine also compared the average values spent on a round trip from the Brazilian capitals that most searched for flights to Buenos Aires between July 15 and August 15 (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Recife and Belo Horizonte). Check out:
- Leaving São Paulo, in the last 30 days, demand increased 55% in relation to the previous 30 days and the average round trip price found in the two analyzed periods remained stable in the range of R$1,700;
- Leaving Rio de Janeiro, demand increased by 77% and the average round-trip price increased by around 12% from one month to the next. Today the price found is, on average, R$2,090;
- Leaving Porto Alegre, demand increased 129% from one period to another and the average round-trip price increased 14%: R$2,320;
- Leaving Recife, demand increased 21%. The average round-trip price rose 16% between one period analyzed and the other: R$2,950;
- Leaving Belo Horizonte, demand increased 38% and the average round-trip price from one month to the next remained stable in the range of R$2,400.
Decolar, in turn, identified a 234% growth in demand for travel to Argentina in the second half of 2022, compared to the same period in 2021.
According to the company, Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Bariloche, Ushuaia and Córdoba are the most popular destinations for Brazilians. The survey considers the demand for airfare to the destination in its sales channels (website and app).
Airlines were not left out. Latam reported that “it remains attentive to the growth in demand for travel to Argentina”.
The company identified a 50% growth in the number of passengers from Brazil to Buenos Aires, from the first to the second quarter of this year.
Due to the increase in demand from Brazilians, the airline announced the resumption of flights between Rio de Janeiro (Galeão) and Buenos Aires (Ezeiza) with three weekly frequencies from November this year.
Currently, the Latam operates 28 weekly flights from São Paulo Guarulhos to Buenos Aires, in addition to four weekly flights from Guarulhos to Mendoza.
Likewise, Gol intends to double the capacity of flights to Argentina in the second half of this year, if compared to the flight offer carried out in the first half of this year. The company informed that among the countries served by the company in Latin America, Argentina is the most sought after by customers.
Buenos Aires (Aeroparque-AEP airport) and Mendoza (MDZ) are the destinations in the neighboring country most sought after by consumers, “with a more tourism profile and an intense flow of Brazilians in search of Argentine beauties”, said the company.
Gol currently offers 27 weekly flights between Brazil and Argentina (Buenos Aires and Mendoza). For September, the airline said the offer should increase, with 36 weekly flights between the two countries expected.
Rodrigo Melo explains that the attractiveness of the country, in addition to monetary issues, is due to its natural beauty and tourism during the winter.
“The main motivation is the country’s natural beauties, especially now with winter. The possibilities of ski resorts, the landscapes that we don’t have here in our country, in addition to the unique culture of Argentina – gastronomy, music and very typical customs. And the ease of language, Spanish is similar to Portuguese and this also attracts a lot the Brazilian traveler”.
The Argentine government’s National Institute for Tourism Promotion estimates that it will recover 50% of Brazilian tourists lost by the pandemic by December this year.
In the first half of 2022, more than 300,000 visited the country, a 41% recovery to date. The agency evaluates the numbers as positive, since Brazilians are the main visitors to the country.
Attention to planning
For those who intend to make a trip to the neighboring country, the recommendation is that the consumer be cautious and not do it on impulse.
The head of investments at Unicred do Brasil, Patrícia Palomo, says that travelers should consider aspects such as: the place where they want to go, the time of year, how long they intend to spend there and what kind of experiences they want to have during the trip.
Palomo explains that, in general, the items that weigh the most on a trip’s budget are accommodation and transportation. That is, these must be the first to be defined.
“Other points must be defined by the consumer, such as what types of tours they want to take, which restaurants to go to, whether they will allocate part of their budget to shopping or whether they will just want to relax. With these definitions, the next step is to estimate the cost of each defined experience to estimate how much resource it will take to fulfill all the travel wishes”, he adds.
Regarding the conversions between reais and pesos, the expert suggests defining the amount of resources that will be needed for the scheduled trip.
In addition, if there is a need to buy foreign currency, Palomo recommends that the consumer carry out the process in tranches “so that the consumer is not surprised by any sudden movement of the exchange rate that could make the trip unfeasible”.
Finally, she says that the moment may be opportune for Brazilians, because in destinations with more devalued currencies, it is possible to make a more pleasant trip without extrapolating the budget.
“In these regions, in general, accommodation, food and services in general are more affordable when compared to other countries whose currencies are more valued. So it is interesting to have an idea of how the economy and the currency of the desired destination are doing”.
The country is going through a difficult time economically. Argentine inflation in June reached 64% in twelve months and 36.2% in 2022, according to the latest data released by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses.
Crisis
With the biggest general rise in prices in 30 years, the Argentine central bank raised the country’s interest rate to try to contain the rise in prices. On August 11, the institution raised its benchmark interest rate by 950 basis points, to 69.50% per annum.
In addition to using interest rates as a bitter medicine to contain inflation, the positive real interest rate is one of the points agreed between Argentina and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a recent debt restructuring pact.
*With information from Beatriz Puente,
Source: CNN Brasil
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