La Argentina, a commercial center for foreign tourists

The jump in the dollar has accentuated the double face of the crisis. Argentina is a very expensive country for the average income of Argentines, but it is very cheap for foreign tourists. Uruguayans, Chileans and Braziliansby the way, take advantage of the favorable exchange rate a shopping in malls and even in border supermarkets. An example: eating in a VIP restaurant costs between 12 and 15 US dollars at the price of blue.

They are opportunistic visitors who mingle with those who come for the traditional winter holidays. Uruguayans lead the trend and those who make the best differences. According to the tourism ministry, 127,000 people from the neighboring country entered in June, of which 77,000 arrived and returned on the same day. More than enough time to go on food tours, buy clothes and shoes, and even go to a music event.

“It always happens, when the dollar jumps those who arrive are Chileans and Uruguayans. The Argentines, on the other hand, are more distanced, “he said Clarione Alejandro Ballabeni, owner and founder of Broccolino, a restaurant of Italian origins located in the center of Buenos Aires. The cost of a meal (appetizer, main, dessert, and coffee) costs an average of $ 3,500 per person. Expensive or cheap, depending on the currency you watch it with.

Due to the proximity, Uruguayans have made weekend stays popular. “From what they say at the tables, 3 days and two nights remain. They come, stroll, shop in malls, dine and go to the theater or a tango show, “explains Carlos Yanelli, of the Campo Style grill. Based in the Puerto Madero area, the venue now operates at half speed,”with a lot of tourism from within the country and especially from Uruguay“describes Yanelli.

Ballabeni claims these are the first waves of visitors from abroad. “For the most part they are Chileans and Uruguayans, but the Brazilians will arrive shortly,” he anticipates. The exchange rate, depending on the currency of each country, plays a major role. A report from the consulting firm Nielsen estimated the cost of the same drink from the best brands in Bolivia it costs 34% more than in Argentina. In Paraguay, 50% e in Uruguay, 69%.

Premium hotels, again depending on the blue, have very affordable prices for foreign visitors. For example, Hotel Madero, a 5-star hotel offering an all-inclusive package for a double room for 3 days for $ 60,000. Around US $ 200 in round figures, about the same cost as a day in a simple New York hotel.

For the same reasons, but from a different angle, food and wholesale shopping tours proliferate in border towns. It is very normal, industry sources agree, that Bolivians, Brazilians, Paraguayans and Uruguayans arrive by car, fill up the fuel tank and go to the branches of the big chains to buy everything.

“They buy perfumery, cleaning, clothing, small electronics, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and even cured meats. In general, They exchange $ 100 dollars and fill an average of two chaguitos“, confides an executive. Another took the province of Formosa as an example.” The border branch sells more than double the basic products of the internal one, “he concluded.

The exchange rate gap and the value of the dollar, in this case, favor foreign consumers. Nielsen analyst Javier González remembers that this isn’t the first time this has happened. “At the end of 2015 -redemarks- the branch of the number one supermarket in the sale of diapers was Clorinda”, the town of Formosa which borders Paraguay. The cycle seems to repeat itself once again.

Guillermo Oliveto, director of the consulting firm W, points out that tourism, entertainment and the need to consume after the pandemic is a global trend. “For Europeans, this is the most expensive summer in history, yet hotels and restaurants have gone out of business,” he said. The same happens in all the countries of the region, but if in addition “Argentina is attractive in terms of prices, the phenomenon is strengthened”, he concluded.