In Buenos Aires, Winter Goes Out with a Retail, Tourism Bang

Shopping centers like Dot Baires are packed with locals and tourists in a buying mood. (Photo: E. Gallelli)

When we look back on 2010 in Argentina from an economic standpoint, the year will be remembered for some key trends that helped lift the country out of the doldrums of 2008/09: consumer confidence, retail spending, housing demand and the record influx of tourists, both domestic (notably BA for the Bicentennial) and international.

And while we’re still months away from closing the books on 2010, Alfredo Sainz of La Nacion says all of these factors are peaking simultaneously to send winter out with a serious bang of discretionary spending.

“The combination of low temperatures,good macroeconomic signals, purchases delayed for two years, the lack of saving alternatives and a massive flood of Brazilian tourists all combined to make the perfect recipe for winter vacations and winter 2010 in general,” writes Sainz adding, “From the shopping centers, the multiplexes, the clothing stores, the tourism agencies and the airlines, this winter season has been the most successful of the last three years.”

Retail sales are up 20-50% at Dot Baires, Alto Avellaneda, Paseo Alcorta, Abasto and Unicenter; box office ticket sales are up 65%; and the 20% bump in tourists has pushed average hotel occupancy rates to 90%. On the transportation side, Aerolineas Argentinas just announced a 30% increase in July traffic and a whopping 240% increase in traffic from Brazil.

And in a clever case of making limonada out of limoes, the country’s early exodus from the World Cup prompted TAM to divert some originally-scheduled South Africa routes down to the ski slopes of Bariloche. (Full Story in Spanish)

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