'Cheap' Buenos Aires drew 2.2 million visitors in 2007: officials

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2008

BUENOS AIRES (AFP) — The cheap peso, tango and tender beef helped draw in 2.2 million visitors to Buenos Aires last year, making tourism the number one earner for the Argentine capital, officials said Wednesday.

The tourist boom shoveled 1.8 billion dollars into the wallets of hoteliers, restaurateurs, taxi drivers and others in the city, the municipal tourist office said, according to press reports. That was 15 percent more than for 2006.

Nearly a quarter of the foreigners arriving in Buenos Aires came from neighboring Brazil. They were followed by visitors from Chile, the United States, Spain and Italy.

© 2008 AFP