Narayan Ammachchizentina’s tourism industry is booming, with the number of foreign visitors rising to over five million so far this year. According to the Buenos Aires Herald, the nation’s Tourism Ministry expects international arrivals to total six million by the end of the year.
Currency devaluation seems to have contributed to the increase in tourism, as the Argentine peso has decreased more than 60% against the dollar in the past year.
Brazilians and Chileans account for the majority of foreigners visiting the country. According to reports, Argentina is now the second top tourism destination in South America, after the continent’s largest and most populous country, Brazil.
The Herald says the number of foreign tourists to have visited Argentina in the first nine months of 2014 is 549,000 higher than in the same period last year, an 15.8% rise.
“Despite three months remaining in the year, it is likely that foreign tourist numbers will surpass the 2011 record of 5.7 million, since activity in the sector normally increases in the months of November and December,” the report added.
The tourism sector is the third biggest employer in Argentina, with foreign tourists spending US$4.8 billion in the country last year.
Last year, more than a million Brazilians and around one million Chileans visited Argentina, according to the Herald. A quarter of a million people came from Canada and the United States.
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