Bariloche positioned itself as first destination for “incentive trips” and fourth destination for “international sporting events”according to the national ranking prepared by the Meeting Tourism Observatory, managed by Aoca, Improtur and the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires.
According to Julieta Rimoldi, president of the Bariloche Bureau, this ranking «provides information on the economic spillover generated by the meetings in Argentina» and allows us to know how each city in the country is positioned.
“Based on 2022 meeting activity, we are 40% below pre-pandemic levels. These Bariloche values coincide with what happens at the country level. There is a sustained recovery, but very slow“Rimoldi said.
He admitted that Bariloche is not well positioned in the national ranking and does not appear in “the top ten”, along with cities such as Buenos Aires, Tucumán, Mar del Plata, Córdoba and Rosario. The cause is the lack of infrastructure.
«There are cities that have universities with large halls, hotels with large conference rooms. For this reason, they have a much higher number of events than ours“, summarized.
According to the latest ranking, Bariloche improved its position in the areas of international sporting events (it went up one position and was in fourth place) and leads incentive trips.
«Incentive trips are corporate trips that companies make as a reward for the best employees. They include a lot of high-end tourist service because it is a kind of reward for effort. In this area, Bariloche covers 48% of the country’s total trips“, he pointed out.
At international conferences, Bariloche occupies the eighth place. «The city is a scientific and technological destination par excellence and that helps us. Pull for science events to take place. This year we have already had three international events: one related to green hydrogen, a physics congress, and another on information processing in medical images”, he pointed out.
Regarding the results of the ranking, Rimoldi assured that it allows «improving decision-making. We can find out when the most events are held, what is the average cost of a participant, how many days they stay in the city either to request certain air routes, compare ourselves with other cities and know where we are standing”.