"None of this is accidental; it has been strategic. We put everything into it," says Bernardo Martín, president of the Municipal Tourism Entity, referring to the first fifteen record that Mar del Plata had, "the vedette of the summer, the one chosen by the family, adults and young people". In the first 15 days of the year,
696,104 tourists
passed through "La Feliz", 9.2 percent more than in the same period of 2022. Thus, it is positioned as
the most chosen coastal city by tourists.
argentines
.
"These are historical, record numbers, which have no precedents since EMTUR started up in 1992", says Martin.
January accentuated a trend that began to tip the balance from December 1st.
"If we take the 45 days, 1,585,161 tourists arrived, which means 5% more than in that period of 2021/2022."
The EMTUR referent confesses, in dialogue with
Clarín
, that "these are numbers that we did not expect and that we were optimistic and we were satisfied with equaling the previous season, but we
raised it by almost 70 thousand more tourists
with all the uncertainty of December, the crisis exchange rate with a dollar in leaps,
inflation that destroys any planning
and we must not forget that the people had their heads in the World Cup".
Accompanied by good weather.
The waters seem crowded with vacationers.
Photo Marcelo Carroll
In relation to the means of transport used by visitors to get to Mar del Plata, according to the EMTUR report, 78% did so by car, 16.3% by bus, presenting this means an increase of 27.4 % in the number of services;
4.2% did so by train and 1.5% by plane".
Reaching almost 700,000 vacationers "is barely fifteen days, it is what large tourist cities receive in a whole year. Is the magnitude understood? The bar is really high and although we do not have any numbers or make forecasts,
we have the feeling that the second fortnight will surpass the first
."
The youngsters made the difference this season and chose La Feliz instead of Pinamar, Gesell and Punta del Este.
Photo Marcelo Carroll
When thinking about where this difference lay, from EMTUR they stated that "the key was that
an audience between 18 and 35 years old came to Mar del Plata, who was a regular from Pinamar, Villa Gesell and Punta del Este.
But they decided change for different reasons and arrived in the first days of the year, finding a city that was prepared to receive it. From the start, Mar del Plata offered shows, DJ's, sports so that this age group was contained".
Another important fact for EMTUR was the number of people who passed through Mar del Plata in 2022. "According to official figures, there were 8.8 million, which meant 33 percent more than in 2021. The second destination was the city of Buenos Aires , which had 6.8 million, two million less".
Each month of 2022, "the city received more visitors than in 2021. The best long weekend last year was once again that of carnivals (246,000), followed by October 12 (169,000) and Easter (166,000). .
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look also
Heat, little rain, lots of waves and snail eggs on the beach: how was the first fortnight on the coast
Chaos to reach the Coast: the second fortnight started with strong delays on the route