Tourist diminutio capitis

The high cost of Aerolíneas Argentinas flights from Aeroparque to Felipe Varela Airport is an important structural comparative disadvantage for Catamarca in the tourism field.

To access fairly reasonable prices, those interested in traveling to Catamarca must plan their trip several months in advance, but even then the disparity does not disappear, since the price to other destinations is also reduced in such case.

This tourist “capitis diminutio” worsens in times of crisis such as those that Argentina has been going through for two decades, in which economizing is a more priority than ever. Catamarca is losing attractiveness compared to other destinations in the region, which have been established for a long time, which in turn are being strengthened as a base and preferential “base” for tourism, with the economic multiplier effect that this implies in activities such as gastronomy, hospitality and commerce in general.

Attenuating the asymmetry should therefore be a central policy for tourism development.

In yesterday’s edition of this newspaper the comparison with Tucumán was published. In the same period, July 16-20, a round-trip flight by Aerolíneas from Aeroparque to Catamarca costs $429,085 per passenger, while to Tucumán it is reduced to $231,659.

Almost $200,000 more, a difference of 85% that cost-conscious tourists may prefer to spend on something else, if they have it, and that multiplies when traveling as a couple or in a group, when collective budgets are designed.

In a train of conjecture, it is not advisable to underestimate the gravitation of the businesses that can be set up in Tucumán or other provinces based on this disparity, such as, for example, transfers by land from that city to Catamarca or the inclusion of Catamarca destinations in packages designed in Tucumán, where the “cream” of the operations would remain.

Another aspect that could be analyzed in detail is what happens in seasons such as the Poncho Festival, when the frequencies, as promoted by the Government, are increased. Will many people go to Tucumán and then move to Catamarca? For some night when there is a particularly blockbuster number, for example.

If a comprehensive perspective is adopted, the development potential nullified by the cost of “flag line” flights is high, aggravated by the absence of “low cost” lines, which there are in Tucumán. If the “low cost” factor is considered, the margin in the neighboring province for businesses based on the price difference is even greater.

On page 14 of today’s edition, statements are published by the president of the Catamarca Travel and Tourism Association, Cristian Fernández, who considers that the number of trips from Buenos Aires to Catamarca, and vice versa, merits having more flights, situation which is reflected in the size of the planes, which have greater capacity than previous years.

There is, then, room to manage an improvement in the objective conditions and positioning of Catamarca as a tourist destination.n