World’s Attention Increasingly Riveted on Buenos Aires as International Fair Venue

The holding of fairs, congresses and expositions in Buenos Aires took a 100 percent leap all through 2003 thanks to the recovery of the nation’s economy, a resourceful cost-cutting policy and better infrastructure. These improvements have laid the foundations for an upbeat 30 percent increase from 2003, local tourism authorities estimated.

The amount of money poured into fairs and tradeshows in Buenos Aires peaked $76 million in 2003 for a whopping 116.6 percent spike from the year before, Argentina’s Tourism Undersecretary Marcela Cuesta said.

Mrs. Cuesta commented the Argentine capital paints itself as a safe destination that’s highly coveted by tourists for its many conveniences. “These reasons make Buenos Aires the favorite Latin American city, alongside Sao Paolo, when it comes to hosting international events,” she said.

Like the hotel sector, fairs and tradeshows generate scores of jobs in a country with an unemployment rate in the neighborhood of 14.5 percent and where half the population lives under the poverty line.

The sector’s leapfrogging growth and the arrival of thousands of event attendants from around the world are also putting good occupancy numbers on the board.

According to the Argentine Fairs Organization (AFO) –the one that plans the International Tourism Fair every year- is almost impossible to drive a wedge into the market without cutting new deals.

”In today’s Buenos Aires, finding a venue for holding events and congresses is an uphill battle. The city’s main five-star hotels have already been booked for upcoming events,” a spokesperson for AFO indicated.

Mrs. Cuesta mentioned some oncoming events to be held in Buenos Aires, including the United Nations Convention of Climate Changes and the Rural Exposition, with 2,500 and 10,000 attendants, respectively.

The Buenos Aires Book Fair is bringing over 400 exhibitors and more than a million visitors to the nation’s capital on a yearly basis.