Why Go Now
After the devastating 2002 currency crash and the 2004 nightclub fire which claimed 194 lives, Argentina’s capital has recovered a lot of its swagger and fun.
The populist President Néstor Kirchner’s early payoff of Argentina’s International Monetary Fund debt, and less-than-friendly treatment of President Bush at the Summit of the Americas in November, played well in a country tired of international advice, and in last October’s midterm elections Mr. Kirchner’s mascara-caked wife, Cristina, won a senate seat amid a wave of Evita nostalgia.
The economy is booming, too: After hitting bottom in 2002, it bounced back in 2004 and 2005, a turnaround that is visible in the sheer number of new apartment towers and clothing stores popping up in the trendy Palermo area. And yet it is still shockingly inexpensive, with first-rate meals rarely costing more than 78 pesos a person, or $25 at 3.14 Argentine pesos to $1.
During this recovery, international skepticism about the local economy has meant that the exchange rate has actually improved for American travelers, with the peso recently falling to a three-year low against the dollar. The downside is that there has been a surge in the cost of living in a land as famous for its explosive inflation as for its huge steaks. With the economic boom predicted to continue throughout 2006 and into 2007, travelers might be advised to visit before inflation makes Argentina no longer the eye-popping bargain it has been since 2002.
For more information on Tourism in Argentina, see
Thanks to Contributor : IAN MOUNT April 2, 2006 NY Times
