As I prepare to update the current edition of Moon Handbooks Patagonia, for
which I will head south in November, I’ve also been doing a desk update of the
current edition of my National
Geographic Traveler guide to Argentina (for those who care about such things,
I get royalties from the former, but only a flat fee from the latter). In the
process, I’ve been making plenty of phone calls to Argentina, thankful that the
price of telecommunications has dropped so dramatically over the past decade. I
don’t use Skype, which I find annoying, but my own Internet provider offers
exceptionally good discount rates on my landline.
Many times, on this blog, I have remarked on issues of discriminatory
pricing against foreigners, most often in Argentina but occasionally in Chile as well. In one major
sector, though, Chile does the opposite: bona fide foreign tourists can stay at
Chilean hotels without paying the 19 percent impuesto de valor agregado (IVA,
Value Added Tax or VAT in Britain and some other English-speaking countries). That
means that a US$100 hotel costs only US$81, if paid in foreign cash or by
non-Chilean credit card.
Chile’s rationale, which I find a little peculiar, is that
hotel rooms rented to non-Chileans are “for export” and, thus, exempt from a domestic tax. While I’ve used that loophole
to my own advantage on occasion – call me hypocritical if you wish – I still
find it puzzlingly inappropriate. In principle, I feel that everybody should pay the same
rate, just as they should for admission to museums, national parks and other
attractions.
In Argentina, historically, hotels have often charged foreigners higher rates than locals or Argentines.
That’s changing, though, as a function of the confusing and inept
exchange controls instituted by the government of president Cristina Fernández
de Kirchner. Several times, in speaking with hotels in Argentina, I’ve asked
their current rates; then, I’ve asked whether they offer cash discounts, and
many do – up to 20 percent. Then I ask whether there are discounts for paying
in foreign currency – specifically US dollars. Some places are evasive, as the
so-called “blue dollar” is technically illegal, but others will give a rate,
such as eight per dollar when the official rate is 5.75. That makes a room rate
of 616 pesos, which one Tucumán hotel quoted to me, US$107.15 at the official
rate but only US$77 at the “blue” rate.
That’s not the best available rate, as the blue dollar
reached nearly 9.5 in Buenos Aires today, but it’s still a substantial
improvement over the official rate. A friend of mine who operates a B&B in
the popular tourist destination of Puerto Iguazú
mentioned that the rate there was somewhere between 8.5 and 9 per dollar but,
even at the somewhat lower hotel rates, foreign visitors can save
substantial sums this coming summer at the front desk, without having to worry
about finding a "cave" to change their money.
For Argentine hotels, there’s another economic advantage in
doing so, as they can report their income at the official exchange rate while earning relatively inflation-proof foreign currency. This
will probably not work at traditional elite hotels like the Alvear Palace,
though - such hotels invariably post their prices in dollars.
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