Signal: With a calm dollar, tourism sales abroad are reactivated

After a series of devastating months for travelers, where the exchange rate discouraged holiday plans (especially abroad), ticket and hotel sales began to recover little by little, encouraged by a dollar ironing and falling prices in that currency. "The first cimbronazo was felt in April and when it seemed that everything had been rearranged, August had become pithy, and after that, the trips abroad were no longer restored, but in those years We have validated the fact that when people get used to the exchange rate, they come back to travel again, "said Fabricio Di Giambattista, president of the Argentine Federation of Travel and Tourism Associations. "The amount of sales has not yet exploded, but for April and May, where you can get better prices, you will feel more," he added.

According to data released this week by the Department of Transportation, more than 1,350,000 people made cabotage flights in January, an increase of 14% over the same month of last year and a record. Internationally, January was down 4% from the same month in 2018, although Ezeiza spent more than 1.03 million pbadengers, reaching its maximum historical value. "Whenever the dollar stabilizes, Argentina starts to travel, we see a sharp increase in visits from January to December, when demand is low, dollar prices are down. options, for example going to the United States for $ 650, while before the tickets cost $ 800, said Matias Mute, CEO of Air Promotions.Also, said Julian Gurfinkiel, co-founder of Turismocity: "January was a very good month, with 80% more queries and searches than in 2018. We spent about five bad months, but now that the dollar is ironed, it is starting to improve the business. At the same time, dollar prices have fallen. "

The panorama shows that the stars of the summer are undoubtedly national destinations, driven by the prices in pesos and the arrival of the low cost. "Sales are picking up, market figures show that the last month of January was better than the same period of last year in terms of domestic destinations, and the international remained on the same parameters. positive average … ", explained Sebastian Mackinnon, general manager of Despegar for Argentina and Uruguay.

Beyond this "peace" experienced by the exchange rate, the scarcity of interest-free payments for the purchase of banknotes is an obstacle that discourages the sector. Although funding exists, high rates have been converted into an interest-free surcharge. In any case, there are exceptions, such as the national carrier or bank cards that still hold interest-free payments. Regarding hotel bookings, there is also a slight improvement this year: "If we compare January 19 to January 18, we see a 40% growth." The Caribbean (Mexico, Dominican Republic and Cuba) are first destination with the highest number of sales.We understand that this is because many people bought their flights well in advance and left the hotel for the last moment, "said Tomas Devescovi, product manager from Atrápalo Argentina.