The 2024–2025 summer season — spanning December through February — delivered a partial but notable recovery in Argentine domestic tourism, despite the challenging economic backdrop of high inflation and declining real wages. Hotel overnight stays across main tourist destinations reached 18.4 million, representing a 7.3% increase compared to the previous summer season. The recovery was uneven across destinations and accommodation categories, but the overall trend pointed toward a rebound in domestic leisure travel after a difficult 2024.
Key destinations: coast and mountains
Argentina's Atlantic coast remained the dominant domestic tourism corridor. Mar del Plata, the country's largest coastal resort city, received approximately 3.2 million tourists during the season, with average hotel occupancy reaching 74.8% across coastal destinations. The city benefited from its accessibility for Buenos Aires and the broader Pampas region. In Patagonia, Bariloche's summer season welcomed 485,000 visitors, capitalizing on its growing reputation as a year-round destination combining lake, mountain and adventure tourism. Average daily tourist spending across all surveyed destinations was estimated at $58,000 pesos — equivalent to approximately USD 58 at the tourist exchange rate prevailing during the season.
The domestic substitution effect
One of the most significant structural trends of the 2024–2025 season was the continued preference for domestic destinations over international travel among Argentine tourists. Foreign exchange restrictions, combined with the effective cost of international airfares when calculated at the official exchange rate, made destinations like Europe, the United States and even neighboring countries substantially more expensive relative to domestic alternatives. This dynamic channeled discretionary leisure spending toward Argentine resorts, hotels and services, acting as a partial demand stimulus for the domestic tourism sector even as overall household purchasing power remained compressed.
Inbound international tourism
While domestic tourism drove volume, inbound international tourism contributed disproportionately to foreign exchange earnings. The 1.24 million foreign visitors recorded in January–February 2025 represented a 12.4% year-on-year increase, reflecting both the recovery of global travel and Argentina's relative attractiveness for foreign visitors given the favorable exchange rates. The average foreign tourist spent USD 1,850 per trip, generating significant revenue for the hospitality, gastronomy and transport sectors. Patagonia stood out as the strongest performer for international visitors, with the southern summer season registering 22% growth in international arrivals — largely attributable to the region's global reputation for wilderness tourism in destinations like El Calafate, Ushuaia and the Peninsula Valdés.
Sector outlook and data context
The tourism sector's recovery during summer 2025 is best understood in the context of broader macroeconomic trends. Hotel occupancy, passenger flows and spending data collected by INDEC and the Ministry of Tourism provide the empirical foundation for understanding how Argentine tourism evolves across economic cycles. The season's results suggest that domestic tourism has a degree of resilience during adjustment periods, partly because lower-income households substitute international travel with domestic alternatives and partly because foreign visitors find Argentina competitively priced. For detailed monthly and annual data on tourist flows, accommodation statistics and spending patterns, our dashboard on international tourism and our dashboard on economic activity offer comprehensive visualization of the available indicators.
