Snow tops the mountains, but the skiers are absent while the San Carlos de Bariloche station, one of the most famous ski resorts in South America, remains desolate during the winter season in the Southern Hemisphere, due to the pandemic of “Covid 19”.
“We have been closed and have absolutely no activity,” said Beilin Garcia Burtona, 36, who has run a family-owned hotel for three generations in the city and heads the tourism authority.
San Carlos de Bariloche is 1,800 km southwest of Buenos Aires, overlooking a magnificent lake and is the fourth tourist destination in Argentina for foreigners. And arrivals from Brazil and Uruguay in second place after Buenos Aires, among their favorite destinations, according to the interests of owners of tourist companies.
In early 2020, when the “Covid-19” epidemic was still seemingly far away, Bariloche dreamed of improving the excellent results she recorded last season when 112,000 tourists came to her hotels, including 15,000 on direct flights from Brazil.
“The city is beautiful, indeed wonderful, it is snowing heavily over it, but it is a city without tourists now,” said Jose Libya, 46, the owner of a restaurant in Cerro Catedral.
20 km from the center of Bariloche, Cerro Catedral Ski Resort includes 120 km of terraces on an area of 600 hectares. At this stage of the year, preparations for the new season are on a hot flame. However, this year the “Covid 19” pandemic prevented this.
On March 20, mandatory stone was imposed on 44 million Argentines. The procedures have since been relaxed in a large part of the country, but it has been strengthened again in and around Buenos Aires with increased casualties. But the borders remain closed and commercial flights are suspended.
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