Global Courant 2023-04-13 14:00:44
A decrease in the demand for hotel rooms during the last long weekend, a decrease that some point out reached a historical floor, reopened a debate in Rosario regarding the relationship that this situation has with the insecurity linked to drug trafficking that is suffered daily in different sectors of the city.
While from the Chamber of Hostels of Rosario they linked the situation directly with the episodes of violence, and spoke of a clear fear of the visitors, spokesmen for the municipal Tourism area pointed out that there is no data that certifies that view.
The issue even generates different opinions within the Rosario Gastronomy and Related Hotel Business Association (Aehgar). “The issue triggers alerts to see the causes. There are different opinions,” Aehgar’s treasurer, Damián Auzunbud, assured Clarín.
Tourists in the center, the last weekend, when the historical occupancy floor for Easter was recorded. Photo Juan Jose Garcia
The long weekend for Easter, according to various estimates by hoteliers, had an average occupancy of 60% of the beds. A downward trend that the sector had already been observing with concern.
They had warned about it last December, but they took the situation as special, taking into account the World Cup. Accustomed to the fact that January and February are usually low season for the city, the flow due to the effects of the Previaje plan nevertheless left some interesting dividend from a tourism that was passing through on its way to other destinations.
The long weekend for Remembrance Day, in March, was once again far from expectations and turned on the alerts. And what happened with the April holidays, for some, was the confirmation of the decline when touching a historical floor.
Gabriel Zysman, owner of La Casona, the first hostel installed in the city, in 2004, and founder of the chamber that brings together this type of venture in Rosario, assured this newspaper that “never” during a long weekend for Easter they found several hostels directly vacated, as happened days ago.
“The reason is obvious. It has to do with what is said about Rosario and that causes tourism not to choose us. The economy can influence, but destinations like Buenos Aires, San Luis or Córdoba were very complete, ”he lamented in dialogue with this newspaper.
To make a difference and demonstrate the scope of the drop in demand, he recalled that in previous years, on the same date, the 700 places that hostels have were covered a month before and that it was even necessary to refer visitors.
At Aehgar, they found that bookings at one- to three-star hotels were more impacted by the drop than higher-quality ones, but that all experienced a clear drop.
“Rosario has a problem of insecurity, but in the peripheral neighborhoods. Where tourism moves is super safe. It is even safer than Federal Capital. But the overexposure of the episodes of insecurity makes tourists have some doubts”, evaluates Auzunbud, a representative of the Howard Johnson Hotel.
Clarín tried to find out the opinion of municipal officials in the area, but from the local administration they only indicated that “there is no way to measure the impact of insecurity” and highlighted that the majority of visitors are “repeat offenders”, which they take as data positive: they assure that those who already know and have traveled the city have no problem in returning.
“We did not have cases of insecurity with tourists, as it did in Buenos Aires. And whoever comes leaves happy. In any case, we have the task of seeing where those who did not come are. Study the issue, look for actions and solutions”, highlights Auzunbud.
From Aehgar, and also from the municipality, they point out another factor that could explain a drop in reservations: the increasingly widespread informal rental of apartments, something that is beginning to have a strong impact on the hotel sector.
A meeting between the chambers of the sector and officials from the municipal and provincial area is scheduled for the next few days. “Perhaps communication needs to be improved to show the many favorable aspects that the city has to attract tourism,” they say from the private sector.
Event tourism
The public-private articulation has been key to sustaining the city as a place of reference in the organization of congresses and events.
There, it is indicated, there is a difference with individual visitors or who are part, for example, of a family contingent: the different associations or companies that organize this kind of event manage other resources, schedules and activities with which it is avoided to be pending of some problem posed by insecurity.
A march against insecurity at the Monument to the Flag, at the end of March. Photo Juan Jose Garcia
However, the pandemic and technological progress also leave their aftermath: the congresses are held in mixed modalities -face-to-face and virtual-, so the demand for places also fell.
As a sign that the city continues to arouse interest for the organization of different kinds of events, two weeks ago Rosario was confirmed –along with Santa Fe and Rafaela– as the venue for the Odesur 2026 Games. The arrival of 7,000 athletes is expected. .
In 2019 Rosario had the IV South American Beach Games and last year it hosted the III South American Youth Games.
The long weekend was held in Rosario the Provincial Festival of Artisanal Ice Cream, the preliminary competition of the 2023 Tango World Cup and the traditional Via Crucis of Father Ignacio Peries, which usually attracts crowds, although in this edition it had a more limited amount of public .
the Provincial Festival of Artisanal Ice Cream, which took place this weekend, the one with the worst tourist occupation in the city. Photo Juan Jose Garcia
Violence, however, is usually at the center of the scene when it comes to attracting visitors. A subject on which the sector asks to work.
“There are several hostels that have a large foreign public. From Eastern Europe, from the Middle East, Israel. It is a public that is accustomed to violence or warfare and no longer chooses Rosario. He prefers to go sightseeing in the favela of Rio de Janeiro and this year he did not come to Rosario,” Zysman warned.
The reference for hostels noted that it is increasingly common for visitors who must travel to the city to fulfill a commitment to call beforehand to find out in detail about the situation of insecurity.
“We have to dedicate a few minutes to explain to them that this is no man’s land and that they are going to go out into the streets and they will not be shot in front of their noses. People with everything being said are really scared,” Zysman acknowledged.
According to data from Aehgar, Rosario has a purely local tourism. Almost no foreign visitors arrive, with the exception of Uruguay.
60% comes from Buenos Aires. They also arrive from the interior of Santa Fe, Córdoba and Entre Ríos. In many cases from towns or cities linked to agricultural activity.
“They come to shop or what we call medical tourism and have an average stay of two nights,” they say from the hotel chamber.
Beyond the flow caused by long weekends, winter holidays, religious activities and the pledge of the flag are usually times of the year when tourism grows. The public walks, the recreational activity in the Paraná river, the monuments and their architecture, the cultural and gastronomic activity, are part of its main attractions.
Rosary beads. Correspondent
AS
