South America has it all. Spectacular mountains. Pristine jungles. Abundant wildlife, much of it found nowhere else in the world. Great beaches. Great music. Unique cuisine. An interesting mix of indigenous peoples-some whose language and customs have changed little in 1,000 years. Art and architecture and waterfalls and icebergs and canyons and casinos.
Everything but tourists from the United States.
Here’s a stat: In 1993 (the latest year available), 219,600 travelers from the United States visited Argentina, according to Argentine figures.
The same year, Europe sent 443,665.
In the 1930s, “Flying Down to Rio” was both a Fred Astaire movie and the dream of every U.S. traveler in search of ultimate fun and glamor and adventure. In the 1990s, Rio De Janeiro is pickpockets and poverty and pollution.
The American Society of Travel Agents, asked in October to forecast their clients’ international destinations for 1995, put the United Kingdom first at 34 percent, followed by Mexico (14.1 percent), the Caribbean (11.2 percent), Australia (7.3 percent) and France (4.9 percent).
China, Costa Rica, Italy, Jamaica and Spain, at 1.9 percent, tied for 9th through 13th, respectively.
South America made the “others.”
What has happened? How did South America, practically a neighbor and never more accessible, become a Lost Continent?
“I haven’t found (that) people avoid South America,” said Adrian Heberden, who specializes in South America packages as an agent with TRAVCOA, a Newport Beach, Calif., travel agency. “But if you’re not a well-traveled person, you don’t pick South America as one of your first destinations.”
Americans are continuing to pick other destinations.
A recent visit to Bolivia found evidence. A check through the “welcome” book at La Paz’s National Art Museum early one afternoon found 20 signees. Ten were from Peru, three from England, two from the Netherlands, two from Sweden and one each from Switzerland, Brazil and Bolivia.
None was from the United States.
On separate bus trips to Lake Titicaca, the ruins at Tiahuanaco and back from the Bolivian town of Copacabana were tourists from France, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Austria, Japan and Israel. An airport conversation found two Canadians. In hotels in three towns, English was never heard from visitors in lobbies, bars, breakfast rooms or elevators. At airports, the only Americans evident were connected somehow to the U.S. Embassy in La Paz.
In 10 days in Bolivia, the only time I saw an American tourist was in the mirror.
Even conceding that Bolivia is off the beaten track in a continent off the beaten track, that’s startling. Many of the people on those tour buses were between stops to grander places-in Chile, Argentina, to Machu Picchu in Peru-and Americans weren’t among them.
For most, the South American continent-right down the longitude from us-continues to be either an afterthought or a destination to be avoided.
Why?
“Basically,” said one Chicago suburban travel agent, “it’s because it’s so volatile. Personally, I don’t even push it.”
The volatility and general political unpleasantness isn’t what it was. Colombia, Venezuela and Peru remain unstable (a border war recently broke out between Peru and Ecuador, though in an area tourists rarely visit) but Bolivia, which once averaged a coup every couple of hours, hasn’t had a serious attempt since 1982. La Paz now prefers elections. Same in Chile, since the Pinochet junta was dissolved in 1989. Same in Brazil since 1985, and people are no longer disappearing in Argentina as they were under its generals before 1983.
Inflation flares from time to time, but the days of 35,000 percent runaways appear over.
Still, old images die hard.
Jerzy Majcherczyk is marketing director for Sunny Land Adventures, a division of Sunny Land Tours in Hackensack, N.J. He has been involved in the travel business, particularly South American adventure travel, for nearly 20 years.
Majcherczyk, who was born and raised in Poland, was asked why so few Americans venture south.
“Good question,” said Majcherczyk. “There are a lot of Europeans there-French, Germans . . .
“I think the biggest concern of all the clients who are tempted to go to South America is the security. To be honest, South America has had bad press in the United States.”
A computer search on a random day-Jan. 5-found three stories on South America offered by The Associated Press and Reuters news services. One was on the threat of a coup in Paraguay, another reported the president of Argentina was four years behind on real estate taxes and being sued by his estranged wife, and the third told of Colombian coca farmers blowing up a gas tank to protest government attempts to wipe out their primary crop.
The Argentina story may be trivial, but together with stories of coups and bombings they have their effect.
“If there are problems in `Colombia, South America,’ that means `Forget about South America,’ ” Majcherczyk said. “(Americans) don’t realize that Argentina is 2,000 miles south of Colombia.”
And that few American tourists will be impacted by Carlos Menem’s marital problems.
But there are periodic warnings by the U.S. State Department about real dangers of traveling in countries experiencing serious unrest-particularly Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. Add to that a spate of published reports-again, very real-about tourists being robbed and hassled in Rio de Janeiro and other South American cities, and there are rational reasons to consider alternatives.
(The most recent bulletin from the State Department said: “There has been some reduction in the crime rate (in Rio) since the 1992 deployment of a tourist police unit.” It still calls the situation “very serious.” A 1993 poll by EMBRATUR, the Brazilian tourist bureau, says the number of tourists concerned for their safety during visits to the country dropped to 17 percent from 30 percent in two years-but no figures were given specifically for Rio.)
Yet Europeans, based on conversations with tourists and travel planners, seem more willing than Americans to ignore the negative stuff.
In 1991, for example, there was a cholera outbreak in Peru that only recently has been brought under control. Travel by U.S. tourists not only to Peru but to all of South America quickly plummeted to almost zero-unnecessarily, Majcherczyk said.
“It was tragic,” he said. “The people who get cholera are mostly the local people, the poor people who cannot wash their produce or whatever. The tourists never had a problem.
“From Europe, it never dropped. Well, it dropped, but it never stopped.”
That, he said, reflects fundamental differences between European and U.S. tourists.
“The problem with Americans,” said Majcherczyk, “is when they travel, they expect to have things similar to this country. Americans want everybody to speak English. Other nations, they learn other languages. Maybe you can’t find a super-deluxe hotel, but there are plenty of four- and five-star hotels.
“There would be no reason to travel if all over the world you had the same thing.”
So U.S. travelers are steering clear of South America because of concerns about security, health, difficulty with the language, and their traditional disdain for the unfamiliar and uncomfortable?
Certainly. But there’s more.
When comparing destinations, air fares can be a tiebreaker, and until there’s more competition, South American fares will remain high-more than $1,000, with little discounting, from most U.S. hubs. Fares to Europe can be a little more than half that (see accompanying story), and Mexico even less.
The lower land costs (especially hotels) can make up the difference, if tourists are aware they exist. Which brings us to another problem: South American countries do little promotion. While Costa Rica was selling itself as prime territory for beaches and ecotourism-625,000 visited that tiny Central American country last year-where was Venezuela, which has some of the best of both?
Venezuela has no government tourist office in the United States.
“You say `Costa Rica’ and you have all manner of clients,” said Majcherczyk. “The country doesn’t need to be promoted anymore. It’s automatic.
“Peru? Nothing. Brazil? They closed their office. Argentina? One man is trying to do something, without any big money. Chile? Nothing.”
“A lot of people think South America is basically a Third World country,” said TRAVCOA’s Heberden, “and people don’t necessarily want to go to Third World countries. If the countries don’t do a lot of advertising to try and promote tourism to their area, they’re not going to get it.”
Not all U.S. travelers avoid South America, of course.
“There’s been a lot of television shows about the Amazon and the rain forest disappearing,” said Heberden, “so lots of people want to get down there and see the Amazon region before it disappears.
“The Galapagos Islands (in Ecuador) are an extremely popular area to travel to.”
The trend is upward. As ecotourism and adventure travel expand, more will be looking toward the opportunities offered by South America. That still, however, represents only a limited number of specialized travelers.
U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration figures show the total number of U.S. tourists visiting South America rose 12 percent in 1993, to 1.231 million-Argentina alone saw a 36 percent leap, Brazil 7.6 percent-but the 131,000 increase was scattered among 13 countries. And a major chunk of the increase, according to several sources in the travel industry, is coming from a surge in business travel between the two continents.
In other words, an upward trend doesn’t yet make a tourist boom.
“Maybe,” Heberden said, of those who go elsewhere, “they just don’t have an interest.”
Which, to Majcherczyk, is unfortunate. South America, he said, offers so much, and it’s right there.
“Don’t wait for any extraordinary thing,” he urged. “Just go and see. Just try it. Give this continent a chance.”
THE BEST OF SOUTH AMERICA
– Amazon: magnificent and threatened (Brazil and beyond).
– Andes: spectacular from Venezuela down the Pacific rim.
– Angel Falls: the world’s highest (Venezuela).
– Buenos Aires: sophisticated gem of Argentina.
– Easter Island: with its mysterious monoliths (off Chile).
– Galapagos Islands: the naturalist’s dream (off Ecuador).
– Iguacu Falls: a tropical wonder (Argentina and Brazil).
– Lake District: a southern Switzerland (Argentina and Chile).
– Lake Titicaca: highest navigable lake (Bolivia and Peru).
– La Pampa: land of the gauchos (Argentina).
– Machu Picchu: mystical city of the Incas (Peru).
– Portillo: great mountain skiing-in July (Chile).
– Punta del Este: beaches and sunshine (Uruguay).
– Rio de Janeiro: like nowhere else (Brazil).
– Tierra del Fuego: Antarctic gateway (Argentina and Chile).
A SAMPLER OF NATIVE CUISINE
– Argentina: parrillada (barbecued mixed grill)
– Bolivia: saltenas (meat-filled pastries)
– Brazil: feijoada (beans and rice with meat)
– Chile: pastel de choclo (meat and corn casserole)
– Colombia: puchero (meat and plantain stew)
– Ecuador: llapingachos (potato and cheese cakes)
– French Guiana: fricassee (crocodile, iguana, anaconda)
– Guyana: cook-up rice (beef, brown rice, vegetables)
– Paraguay: sopa paraguaya (cornbread souffle)
– Peru: lomo saltado (beef, onions, peppers)
– Suriname: pom (chicken, onion and pepper casserole)
– Uruguay: carbonada (meat, rice and fruit stew)
– Venezuela: pabellon (shredded beef, rice, black beans)
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Basic tourist information for much of South America-primarily visa and immunization requirements-is provided through embassies, consulates and trade associations. Helpful numbers:
– Argentina: 212-603-0443
– Bolivia: 202-483-4410
– Brazil: 312-464-0244
– Chile: 202-785-1746
– Colombia: 202-387-8338
– Ecuador: 305-447-6300
– French Guiana: 312-751-7800
– Guyana: 202-265-6900
– Paraguay: 202-483-6960
– Peru: 202-887-5151
– Suriname: 202-244-7488
– Uruguay: 212-753-8581
– Venezuela: 800-331-0100
For information on health conditions in South America, call the International Traveler’s Hotline, a recorded service of the Centers for Disease Control: 404-332-4559.
For recorded or faxed updates on safety conditions and visa regulations, call the State Department’s travel advisory hotline: 202-647-5225.
