International tourism to Buenos Aires continues to grow, and the capital of Argentina has welcomed over 1.6 million foreign tourists in the first seven months of 2026. This represents an increase of 19% year-on-year.
Brazil is still the main source market with 22% (357,000 visitors), followed by the United States with 14% (219,000) and Uruguay with 11% (171,000). In terms of European markets, Spain takes the lead with 73,000 tourists (5% of the total), followed by Italy and Germany.
China exceeded the expectations of the tourism sector by 62% compared to the first seven months of 2025 and 80% compared to 2024. The connection opened by China Eastern between Shanghai and Buenos Aires has been key to this growth and now this market has slightly overtaken the levels of 2019, before the pandemic, being one of the fastest-growing in the world. It has also overtaken more traditional markets such as France, Canada, or Ecuador.
Air Connectivity Drives the Expansion
Air travel continues to be the engine of international tourism to Buenos Aires with 1.2 million international visitors recorded between January and July (76% of the total). In total, 8.6 million passengers flew to and from the city in the first half of the year, on some 50,000 international flights, representing a 9% increase year-on-year. The top 5 routes in terms of passengers are São Paulo (1.96 million passengers), Santiago de Chile (1.69 million), Rio de Janeiro (1.65 million), Madrid (1.15 million) and Lima (819,000).
New routes were added to the network in 2025 and 2026 and include Sky Airline to Salvador de Bahia, JetSMART to Recife, LATAM Brazil to Porto Alegre, Rio and Natal, LATAM Peru to Santiago and São Paulo, LATAM Chile to Miami, China Eastern to Auckland, Aerolíneas Argentinas to Aruba, and Plus Ultra to Madrid.
More flights are to come with a non-stop flight set to depart on 29 November for the first time ever between Argentina and Israel on the Tel Aviv-Buenos Aires route. In addition, from December, China Eastern Airlines will double the frequency of its flights between Shanghai (Pudong) and Ezeiza from two to four weekly services.
As well as record-breaking passenger numbers, Buenos Aires continues to market itself as a year-round destination that offers a wide range of activities for all tastes. With more than 7,000 restaurants, 287 theatres, 380 bookshops, 150 museums and 18 football stadiums, as well as an extensive and varied cultural and entertainment offer that is regularly renewed, the city has been declared World Capital of Sport for 2027 and has been ranked first in the Americas for 15 consecutive years by the ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association).
