ARGENTINA'S FOREIGN TOURISTS

ARGENTINA'S currency crisis a boon for foreign tourists...........

ARGENTINES maybe feeling the pinch of their country's economic woes, but for tourists, the troubled peso is proving a holiday boon.

Brazilian Pedro Perreira de Azevedo has been rubbing his hands in delight after his family holiday, with his wife and three children, turned out cheaper than expected.

''We'd planned a budget of ,000 reais {around $ 1,700} but in the end we've spent between   3,000-3,500,'' said  Perreira de Azevedo, while his family took pictures outside the Argentine presidential palace.

When they arrived from Belo Horizonte in the east of Brazil on September 5, the peso had just lost  20 percent  of its value in the wake of President Mauricio Macri announcing Argentina would would ask the  International Monetary Fund to advance a  $35 billion loan to help prop up an economy in crisis.

With the peso having lost half its value against the dollar since the start of 2018, the Brazilian real  looks strong in comparison despite its own difficulties   -it has itself dropped from around  3.3  to 4.1 since January 1.

''We we're able to buy whatever we wanted and visit all the tourists site in Buenos Aires,'' added Perreira de Azevedo.

''At Boca Juniors' stadiums we had even had an VIP visit,'' added one of his daughters excitedly.

Not far from the  iconic  Bombonera stadium in the rugged La Boca neighborhood, Lori Berho, an American living in Chile and on holiday with her brother, said she felt lucky to have been able to benefit from such a favorable exchange rate.

''Last night we were able to enjoy a complete restaurant meal for two for $60 when normally it would have cost $100 ,'' she said.

The struggling peso has left tourist guides a touch out of date.

''When you read the tourist guides they say things cost more in Argentina than elsewhere in Latin America, but over the last 10 days we've spent less than we expected,'' said a young French tourist, Pauline Gauthier, meansering through the historic streets of San Telmo  with her partner. [Agencies]