They are called hikers. That is the denomination used by the Ministry of Tourism of the Nation to differentiate foreigners who come to the country to spend their vacations from those who enter, stay for a few hours, make purchases and leave. With the Argentine peso becoming cheaper, for citizens of neighboring countries, Argentina is the new low cost market. Grocery products, cleaning supplies, clothes… everything on this earth a bargain -for them-.
According to information from the ministry leading Matthias Lammens, from January 1 to June 30, 1,152,935 hikers arrived in Argentina. Most of them entered from Brazil, with 547,894 rCustoms records. They were followed in the ranking Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and Chile. According to official estimates, the expenditure made by hikers in the country during this period was 35 million dollars.
The latest data that confirms the phenomenon is from the last week of July, when the entry of 100,000 hikers was recorded, 140% more than the same week in 2019.
The phenomen is not new. For several years, Argentina has become a destination at a good price. In fact, from Tourism They explained that the number is still below the amounts that were registered before the pandemic: “The income of those who come shopping is 80 percent compared to the pre-pandemic, while the income of those who do tourism is at 60%. It is a very good fact given that Chile very recently began to make exiting and entering through its borders more flexible and that not all border crossings are 100% open”, they pointed out to NEWS from the ministry.
Borders. Far back in time there were those images of the Argentines who left with the empty car to Chile, Bolivia or Brazil and they returned with the trunk loaded with clothing, perfumes or grocery products. This practice had been very common among the middle classes of border towns in times when the Argentine peso had a value above the currencies of neighboring countries.
Now the situation has been reversed. In Entre Rios, In recent months, the long lines of Uruguayans who cross the bridge to get cheap products have begun to be recorded. In fact, a price report produced by the Economic Observatory of the Catholic University of Uruguay, that compared the basic basket of Salto (Uruguayan department) with that of Concordia, pointed out that there is a price difference of up to 58% in food and non-alcoholic beverages and 67.09% in alcoholic beverages and tobacco. In clothing, the differences are around 27%.
The situation, many times, generates inconveniences at border crossings. Since the beginning of the year, for example, at the intersections of Posadas and Encarnación and also in Puerto Iguazú, there have been long lines and even fights between drivers. The official explanation was that there is not enough Customs staff. In March, in fact, the coordinator of the Northern Mesopotamia Border Centers of the national directorate of Border Technical Affairs, Héctor Careaga, He had assured that the objective was “to have two more lanes”, although he clarified that the measure “will not greatly increase the speed of control”.
In Jujuy, the situation is similar. “We have La Quiaca and Villazón, which are practically sister cities. Since the connection is so easy and fast, there is a very strong binational trade. It is something that has always happened, but the difference is that before it was the other way around: the Argentine was the one who was going to buy from Bolivia because of the low prices and now it is the Bolivian who comes to buy here,” he explains. Jose RossettoJujuy Minister of Production.
The border cities of the Argentine territory, unlike what happens with those that are in most of the bordering countries such as Ciudad del Este, Foz de Iguazú or Villazón -which has grown exponentially in recent years- are small. According to Rossetto, all those places had become great commercial poles thanks to the Argentineans who crossed to buy during the day. “Now it’s happening the other way around, so the impact at the local level is positive for small businesses,” he adds. In fact, that is the reason why the government of Jujuy, for example, wants to promote the free zone: “We want to attract all those buyers of Bolivia, Chile, Peru and Paraguay to La Quiaca. We see that this is already happening and it has very important repercussions in a small city, so we want to turn it into something that can be sustained beyond the economic ups and downs of the country”, he concludes.
Although the crisis is a good opportunity for foreigners, there were those who took advantage of the situation to make fun of it. In the last match between Boca and Corinthians, Brazilian fans tore up $1,000 bills from the Bombonera stands to laugh at the increasingly devalued Argentine peso.
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