The hotels of the greater Mendoza metropolitan area are 100% occupied, with many tourists having to rent rooms in private houses to alleviate the flood of tourists that have arrived to the province this long holiday weekend.
In Malargüe y San Rafael, in the southern part of the province, hotel capacity is at 95%, and Tunuyan, in the heart of Valle de Uco (Uco Valley), is reporting 80% occupancy. In the mountains behind Mendoza City, lodging is also fully booked, especially in the area of Uspallata.
In addition to this long weekend being flooded by Argentine and foreign tourists for Argentina’s 200th birthday tomorrow on May 25th, there is a significant arrival of tourists from Chile as that neighboring country celebrates its own long holiday weekend celebrating “Día de las Glorias Navales”, which commemorates the Battle of Iquique.
“This influx of tourists is similar to what we experience in high season, being that May 25th is not typically associated with strong tourism levels” according to Raúl Sánchez, director of planning at the Mendoza’s Secretary of Tourism.
Mendoza’s long-distance bus station, the “Terminal de Ómnibus de Mendoza”, is also experiencing a very active long weekend. Passenger movements began to accelerate last Friday afternoon with arrivals of tourists from Chile. On Saturday morning, the scene brimmed with passengers arriving from points all over Argentina, especially from Paraná, Córdoba y Buenos Aires, according to María Sol Cebada, of the Information Center inside the bus terminal. The landscape becomes more difficult for those who arrive without reservations, as those tourists begin their hunt for lodging only getting off a bus. The bus terminal continues to be very busy with inquiries from Chileans of how and when to get back to Chile, since their primary holiday was last Friday. The recent re-opening of the tunnel to Chile yesterday morning, which was closed due to snow, has alleviated some of the problems.
With a glass of wine in her hand, and enjoying folklore music in the Civic Center of Mendoza, German tourist Dagmar Hoffman related her plans for today: Visit Uspallata during the day and this evening attend the concert for the Bicentennial in Mendoza’s main square “Plaza Independencia”. “The hostel is very far, and my room is very full with people”, Dagmar commented, who yesterday was looking for an alternate place to stay.
Translated digest of the article "Hay turistas hasta en casas de familia" from Diario Los Andes, photo by Andrés Larrovere / Diario Los Andes, published May 24, 2010.
The original article is available at:
http://www.losandes.com.ar/notas/2010/5/24/sociedad-491811.asp
