Argentina sees the 43rd edition of the International Tourism Fair, Fitur 2023, as an «important showcase» to strengthen its relations with Spanish operators, but also with Europe and the rest of the world.
Among the objectives of the Argentine delegation at the latest edition of Fitur, as explained by the Minister of Tourism and Sports of Argentina, Matías Lammens, in an interview with Europa Press, is to «capitalize» in terms of tourism the traditional relationship that exists between Spain and Argentina, forged, among others, by the family ties that unite the two countries.
«Fitur is for us one of the most important fairs worldwide and that is why we look at it with attention and take it into account, with the aim of giving a touristic vision to the two-way traffic that exists between our countries, Spain being the main market of tourists to Argentina at a European level», explained Lammens.
For Argentina, tourism is one of its growth and development axes, representing a driving force for its economy, once the health restrictions of the pandemic have been overcome.
In this sense, the minister said that betting on tourism, «as the Argentine government has been doing for three years», is synonymous with generating employment. «Tourism is, together with industry and construction, one of the most important sectors for the labor market, so we will continue investing to recover 100% of tourists», said Lammens.
In figures, 2022 meant for Argentina the recovery of 80% of pre-pandemic travelers and more than 100% in terms of spending. «We see a positive scenario for 2023 because we are competitive and we have first-rate infrastructure and services,» said the minister.
TOURISM, AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH One of Argentina’s big bets is to advance in sustainable tourism and make visitors have a «more pleasant» experience when getting to know the country’s biodiversity.
One of the projects being promoted by the Ministry of Tourism in this line is the national program of Natural Routes, with the aim of positioning Argentina «definitively» as a destination of natural and sustainable spaces.
To achieve this, Lammens has expressed his wish that businessmen and hoteliers, as well as multilateral organizations and financial entities join in order to obtain investment for the project.
«Argentina has to think about how it is going to develop in the coming years, how it is going to generate employment, how it is going to add income and how it is going to do it in a sustainable way, and in tourism the country has, without a doubt, an enormous opportunity».
CHINESE MARKET AND SPORTS TOURISM The opening of China’s borders represents a «unique and extraordinary occasion» for the tourism sector in Argentina, which was already the country that received the most Chinese tourists in 2019. In its favor, as explained by the Minister of Tourism, play factors such as the proximity that Argentina has with Antarctica, an area that triumphs among the Asian population.
In this way, and in view of the «explosion» of tourists from this country that is expected, Argentina is already training and working to «consolidate» itself as the main destination in South America for this market. «We are very interested», Lammens assured.
Another of Argentina’s bets revolves around soccer, taking advantage of the recent victory of its national team in the 2022 World Cup. «The idea is to promote soccer tourism, developing projects through which visitors can learn more about the origins of Messi, the figure of Maradona or the sports routine of the Argentine soccer team,» Lammens explained.
For the head of Sports, Argentina represents a place that breathes soccer «like nowhere else», and for this reason he aspires that tourists can go and live the experience, being this aspect a new point of consolidation for the country’s tourism.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)