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As The Real Turns: Brazil’s Impact Felt Daily

On May 24, 2011, In entrepreneurs, foreign investment, by InvestBA
Masters of Food and Wine 2011

This signature event barrel in the lobby of the Park Hyatt Mendoza is covered with "Muito Obrigado."

Of all of the Latin American countries participating in July’s Copa America, neighboring Brazil will undoubtedly send the most fans. After an opening round match in Buenos Aires against Venezuela on July 3, the Verde-Amarela nation will descend on Cordoba, San Juan and Mendoza. Yet, six weeks before the tournament begins, there are no rumors of a Brazilian invasion, because, as La Nacion’s Emilia Subiza reports, Brazil already dominates so many aspects of daily life in Argentina.

In a sweeping analysis of various sectors of the economy, Subiza likens Argentina to a small cog spinning alongside larger Brazilian cogs in the machinery of bilateral trade. Today Brazil, the world’s eighth-largest economy, buys 82% of autos built in Argentina, 42% of all Argentine industrial exports and 21% of total exports. Brazil ranks fourth in terms of DFI in Argentina, and is slowly beginning to dominate certain sectors like banking, beef, cement and shoes. One example: Argentina’s largest bank has 944 ATMs in the country; Brazilian banks now have 755.

The nationwide ATM network is especially convenient for the 863,492 Brazilian tourists that came to Argentina last year, more than double the number from 2009 and possibly on pace to top 1 million this year. A Standard Bank economist tells Subiza, “there  is a relatively new phenomenon which is the enormous quantity of Brazilian tourists that come to Argentina and are having a profound impact on the economy.”

So profound, writes Subiza, that Bariloche is now referred to as Brasiloche and Brazilian airline TAM had to upgrade from Airbus 320s to 330s just to accommodate more inbound Brazilian passengers. Like the cogs in her original analogy, giant Brazilian airlines and banks grinding out tourists and reais, with the smaller, service-oriented Argentine cogs, all too happy to receive them. (Full Story in Spanish)

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Ótima: BA Is Brazilians’ Favorite Destination

On April 7, 2011, In a-bric, foreign investment, tourism, by InvestBA
Brazilian tourists in Buenos Aires

Brazilian tourists in Buenos Aires love the affordable hotels, the shopping, the restaurants & the Quilmes.

We know for a growing number of Argentines, “BA” stands for Brasil Ahora!, a fact that can be validated on the beaches of Florianopolis and the Foz do Iguazu. But the travel and tourism festival de amor works both ways according to new data from Brazil’s Hôtelier News.

Argentina’s Tourism Hotel Association (ATHA) says the number of Brazilian tourists in Argentina rose 85% in 2010 over 2009. Today, Brazilian Portuguese is a familiar chorus in the gallerias of BA, on the slopes of Bariloche and in the vineyards of Mendoza. ATHA confirms that Brazilians now account for 32.6% of all foreign visitors to Argentina. Just two years ago, Brazil trailed Europe, the U.S. and Canada with 18% of international arrivals at Ezeiza (Source: INDEC, July 2009).

As if the news could not get better, Buenos Aires is the number one most preferred destination among Brazilians, according to a poll conducted by Hoteis.com. The website summed up the Holy Trinity of BA’s appeal: “It’s easy (to get there), it’s cheap (because of the strength of the real), and there is a good selection of quality hotels. For what one would pay for a one-star hotel in New York or a two-star hotel in Rio, you can get a four-star hotel in Buenos Aires.” (Full Story in Portuguese)

For more information about real estate investment opportunities in Buenos Aires, download IncomeBA (English, Portugues)

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Liquidação: The Brazilians Are “Buying Everything in Buenos Aires”

On September 3, 2010, In a-bric, lifestyle, tourism, by InvestBA
Galerias Pacifico in Buenos Aires

Let Us Pay: A Brazilian tourist recently took this photo of Buenos Aires shopping cathedral, Galerias Pacifico.

It was 90 years ago when the phrase “Rich as an Argentine” was coined in Paris. Flush with new-found export wealth, the country’s elite would travel to European capitals for shopping sprees of clothing, fabrics and antiques.

By the end of the century, the wealthy were still going abroad in full acquisition mode; however, destinations closer to home, Miami, Punta del Este and Florianopolis, became the playgrounds of choice.

Now, only ten years into the new century, and it seems Brazil’s nouveau riche have become the Western Hemisphere’s new shopaholic celebre. The influx of Brazilian tourists to Argentina is well documented here, but Reuters’ Stuart Grudgings digs deeper into the suitcases of returning cariocas and finds they purchased just about “everything” while on vacay in BA.

“Backed by a booming economy, record job creation and a strong currency, Brazilian consumers are taking wing as they go on a spending spree…Brazilian tourists spent $8.6 billion abroad in the first seven months of 2010, a 56 percent rise on the year before,” writes Grudgings. At one point, he interviews a 54-year-old Brazilian tourist accompanied by twenty of her closest friends at a Buenos Aires galleria and asks what they are buying. “Everything,” she replies.

The current Brazilian buying frenzy is fueled by economic strength, availability of cheap credit and exorbitant import tariffs back home. It’s worth noting Argentines face similar tariffs on electronic goods which explains Argentina and Brazil’s #1 and #2 ranking on the global iPod index. (Full article)

For more information about Buenos Aires lifestyle and cultural events, visit our archives and download the latest issue of InvestBA Privada.

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

On August 4, 2010, In a-bric, buenos aires events, foreign investment, tourism, by InvestBA
Dot Baires Shopping Center in Buenos Aires

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)

For more information on Buenos Aires shopping and luxury living, download the new issue of InvestBA Privada.

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Buenos Aires Outlet Shopping Attracting Bargain-Hunters

On July 18, 2010, In arts & entertainment, lifestyle, tourism, vanityba, by InvestBA
Villa Crespo

Dame Dos: BA's Villa Crespo has quickly become the epicenter of outlet shopping in Argentina.

It used to be that Argentines had to travel roughly 4,500 miles to South Florida or Orlando’s International Drive to indulge in deep discount retail therapy, but it seems the outlet concept has caught on fire in one BA neighborhood.

Villa Crespo has long been known as a solid, middle-class residential neighborhood, but the 2001 financial crisis left this BA barrio with several abandoned warehouses and residences. Today, according to Clari­n, many of those buildings are being bought for upwards of US$500,000 and converted into the Buenos Aires equivalent of Sawgrass Mills.

The phenomenon began five years ago when several large BA clothing stores started opening their first outlets around Gurruchaga and Aguirre. Today there are over 60 outlets in a four-block zone and close to 100 in a 10-block region. The retail pioneers like Hunor Gobos closed their stores on Avenida Florida five years ago, opened the first VC stores and have watched sales and shoppers grow every year since.

Clari­n says the Boom de los Outlets has really exploded over the last ten months, and the area is teeming with bargain-seeking tourists, especially Brazilians, Chileans and Uruguayans. Daniel Chain of the Buenos Aires Department of Urban Development says prices in Villa Crespo are still lower than Palermo but says they will continue rising, as Villa Crespo will be one of the prime beneficiaries of GCBA’s new infrastructure to control flooding. (Full article in Spanish)

For more information about upscale shopping and luxury living in Buenos Aires, download the new issue of InvestBA Privada.

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