Tourist map of Argentina
Argentina is the second most visited country in South America, with an average of 5.6 million tourists per year in the five-year period 2012-2016, behind Brazil with an average of 6.1 million in the same period. In Latin America, both are located behind Mexico (38.8 million), being surpassed in America also by the United States (82.9 million) and Canada (27.3 million).
According to official figures of the World Tourism Organization, in 2010 the country received more than 5.3 million foreign tourists, which meant some 4930 million dollars of foreign currency income, foreign tourists come mainly from Brazil, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Bolivia, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Venezuela and Paraguay among the Latin American countries; the European countries of Spain, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Switzerland; and of the United States, Canada and China from the rest of the world.
Endowed with an immense territory with great tourist attractions, a variety of enormous climates, natural wonders, culture, customs and gastronomies famous at international level, a very high degree of development, good quality of life, and a well-prepared infrastructure, Argentina is recipient of massive amounts of travelers. The valuation of the local currency after the devaluation of 2002 favored the arrival of large numbers of foreign tourists, making the country more commercially accessible than in the 1990s. As costs became more expensive to travel abroad, many Argentines also turned to national tourism.
Buenos Aires stands out as the favorite center for foreign and national tourists (5 250 000 in 2007.) They are attracted by a populous, cosmopolitan city with extensive infrastructure. Among many other factors, tango is one of the reasons for visiting the Argentine capital.The characteristic nightlife of Buenos Aires is one of the great attractions due to its varied cultural, gastronomic and entertainment offer.
Bariloche, located in the Argentine Patagonia is the second most popular tourist destination chosen by visitors. It is the place chosen for the trip of secondary graduates from Argentina and neighboring countries.
Another outstanding center of attraction are the Iguazu Falls, in the province of Misiones, declared in 1984 a Natural World Heritage Site by Unesco. The fall of the mighty Iguazú river is complemented by the subtropical jungle that surrounds it.
Argentina has an important variety of mountainous sites, in several of them mountaineering is practiced and others base their tourist attraction in contact with the snow or in its characteristic landscapes. The main ones are found in the west of the country, in the Cordillera de los Andes, although there are also mountainous formations in the Sierras de Córdoba. Among the sites used for mountaineering is Mount Aconcagua, the highest mountain in America. The most important tourist spots for their snow are Bariloche and Las Leñas. An internationally known formation is the Quebrada de Humahuaca. The Train to the Clouds is one of the three highest railroads in the world. It starts from the province of Salta, and crosses the Quebrada del Toro passing through Tastil -considered as one of the main pre-Hispanic urban centers of South America- where archaeological ruins are found.
Ischigualasto Provincial Park, also known as "Valle de la Luna", is located at the northern tip of the province of San Juan, 330 km from the city of San Juan. It is a protected area where the entire Triassic period can be seen completely uncovered and perfectly differentiated in a complete and orderly manner, so that on November 29, 2000 it was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco.
The glaciers are one of the main attractions of the Argentine Patagonia. The best known is the Perito Moreno Glacier, whose accessibility and characteristic periodic rupture give it a unique attraction. It expands over the waters of the southern arm of Lake Argentino, with a front of 5 km and a height above the lake level, between 70 and 60 meters. This ice wall covers an area of 230 km². The area of continental ice and glaciers is a natural treasure, declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1981.
In recent years the implementation of wine tourism has been important, a thematic tourism based on viticulture with the initiative of the so-called "Wine Routes" in the provinces of San Juan and Mendoza as well as in the Calchaquíes valleys of Salta, tourism that attracts numerous foreign tourists to taste Argentine wines.
The winter tourism has its maximum exponent in the region of the Lakes, located at the foot of the Cordillera de los Andes in the Provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego; In addition to the practice of mountain sports, the area has attractive glacial lakes and National Parks surrounded by lush vegetation. In the center of it all, the city of San Carlos de Bariloche on the shores of Lake Nahuel Huapi and a few kilometers from Cerro Catedral, is positioned as the main winter center of South America, attracting most of the domestic and foreign tourism.?
During the summer season a good part of Argentine domestic tourism goes to various cities of the Atlantic coast of the province of Buenos Aires, being Mar del Plata the largest of them. Most of these cities concentrate their economic activity in the summer season. The second destination in terms of capturing domestic tourism is the Sierras de Córdoba, being its main tourist center Villa Carlos Paz in the Punilla Valley. The Argentine coastline with its fluvial beaches, thermal resorts and carnivals in the province of Corrientes and in the province of Entre Ríos, among others, constitutes the third destination of national tourism, traditionally the month of January (southern summer) It is the one that generates the greatest demand for rentals.
On the other hand, the area of the Valdés peninsula (in the province of Chubut) is an area declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in which the Atlantic coast and the Argentine Patagonia are combined; another great international destination with such characteristics is located in the province of Tierra del Fuego,. Ushuaia, the provincial capital, serves as a starting point for excursions and cruises to Antarctica.