Argentina eyes new summer tourism record

BUENOS AIRES - Argentina is on course for a record-setting summer tourist season, with an estimated 9.5 million domestic and foreign tourists expected to travel to different destinations across the country in January, an offical said.

If that figure is confirmed, the number of tourists in January 2010 will rise by 10.2 percent relative to the same month last year, and would be the largest total during that month in the past decade, tourism secretary Enrique Meyer said in a statement Saturday.

“The outlook for February and March is similar, so we’re looking at the chance of a record summer season,” Meyer said.

The number of summer tourists in Argentina rose 32 percent from 2003 to 2009, while the results of the 2010 summer season are expected to top those of the two previous years, buoyed by an improved global economic situation and competitive prices at the country’s different destinations relative to those of its neighbours, the statement said.

–IANS/EFE