Originally Posted by
iahphx
My general impression is that Argentina is twice as expensive as it was in December 2023. The saving grace is accommodation cost, which is still low. I don't know about BA (where I use a small amount of Wyndham points, the same as in 2023). But when I travel around the country, I use booking.com and Airbnb and average less than US$50/night for very comfortable accommodations. They'd be 3x the cost in the US, easily. But everyone I talk to, including many expats, complains how expensive Argentina is now. Frankly, I think they exaggerate. But the country does feel more expensive than it should be. Like they are ridiculously taxing foreigners to visit the national parks, charging like 45,000 pesos a day for Perito Moreno. And, honestly, Argentina is not a fully developed country. This is not America or Western Europe -- or even many Asian nations that, a few years ago, I might consider equivalent on the development scale. So I would naturally expect Argentina to get a bit cheaper again, unless Milei truly transforms the economy. For value, now is probably not the best time for foreigners to come. I have seen this cost cycle now for more than 35 years, and it goes up and down repeatedly in Argentina.
I agree with you and I disagree with Gaucho100K. Argentina should not be an expensive destination, not cheap but not expensive like now, because only those who works with tourists clients will benefit of that, not the locals, not the tourists.
As I said before, I noticed is twice the price what it was a year ago, and a year ago it wasn't cheap (neither expensive), but it was about right. I was going to write the same about parks entrances, many places are $30~40k, which is ridiculous. A year ago I spend 10 days in Bariloche, this past November I went to Puerto Madryn, taking the whale watching boat was 120 u$s, not cheap for foreigners (forget about locals), while a similar tour in San Diego cost less than 80 dollars, or for the same amount I spend in PM, I could get a private/smaller boat for our group of 9, and not for just 1 hour but 3.
National parks fees in USA are $15~20 per person, or $35 avg per car, or you can get an annual pass for $80 and bring 3 guest (or a car). In Europe is $10~20, we all know Argentina have some wonderful places (as many other countries have their own), but the tendency of double the price every year... I'm not sure how long will last, because eventually if they keep doing it, many places will be out of the radar in the upcoming years for many tourists, and similar effect will happen with locals, when they find out is cheaper to go overseas.