Creating a tourist offer focused on the gay segment is becoming increasingly attractive for companies in the sector, because this public registers higher spending and longer stays, compared to other niches.
More than 490,000 tourists from the lgbt segment (Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Trans) visited Argentina in 2018, representing an interannual growth of 11 percent.
"In 2018, Argentina closed the year with more than 7 million visitors and an estimate of more than 490,000 lgbt tourists," Pablo De Luca, president of the Argentine Gay Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (Ccglar), told Télam.
For the next two years, the executive said that the competitiveness granted by the devaluation "will maintain that rate of growth of about 11%.
In this sense, he estimated that during this year some 550,000 tourists will arrive in the country, "while probably in 2020, if everything continues as we estimate, we will reach 600,000 visitors," he said.
As for the destinations chosen by these visitors, it placed Buenos Aires first, followed by Puerto Iguazú, Ushuaia, Mendoza, Córdoba and Rosario.
The successive mentions of the country by polls, consultancies and search engines as one of the ten most important "gay friendly" destinations, "and often as the only one in Latin America, such as the LGBT British Awards", are for De Luca some of the causes for this growth.
As for the regional situation, he pointed out that countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay and Brazil are also positioning themselves in the segment.
De Luca acknowledged that so far is an unknown "the impact of anti-gay policies in Brazil," but said that "if such policies are sustained, we imagine that it may be a reason for more lgbt tourists seek to spend their holidays in a place where those rights are respected.
Regarding the work carried out in the country during 2018, he highlighted the creation of the lgbt Tourism Coordinators Network, which includes 20 major destinations, between cities and Argentine provinces.
"The objective is to design a joint strategy under the umbrella of the promotion and communication strategy of Inprotur (National Institute of Tourism Promotion) abroad, and training in the country to the public and private sectors," he said.
