Waking the Sleeping Giant of South America

As a tourist destination, South America has been a sleeping giant. Yet its nations are rich in travel bounty: pristine beaches, exotic rain forests, the world’s highest waterfall and mightiest river, archeological treasures, cities that throb until dawn and cut-rate prices that stretch vacation dollars.

Those wonders have largely been overshadowed by news of the continent’s economic troubles, political upheavals, terrorism and drugs.

But the sleeping giant is stirring and searching seriously for much-needed cash from tourism. Brazil began aggressive pursuit a few years ago and has been the most successful at luring visitors, despite growing theft in Rio de Janeiro and polluted beaches at Copacabana and Ipanema. Following the pattern of Brazil’s tourist courting are Peru and Argentina.

In 1988, Peru opened one of South America’s first North America-based tourism boards in Miami, followed by a Canadian office in Montreal. Argentina’s tourism office in New York has just been joined by another in Miami, and Argentine officials are doing a hard sell on U.S. travel agents.

Even cocaine-plagued Colombia, helped by its national airline, Avianca, has slick, sophisticated tourism promotions, as does Ecuador. And Venezuela, buoyed by the success of charter flights that brought in 100,000 Canadians annually, is eyeing the U.S. market.

Yet the push has only been recent and is not well cash-endowed.

One of the biggest problems for these financially strapped countries is funding promotions in the United States. None of the countries’ budgets allow them to buy TV ads and some, like Uruguay, cannot even afford to reprint travel flyers depleted before the end of the vacation season.

“Money, we don’t have,” said Horacio Patino, director of Argentina’s tourism promotions. “But that means with the little budget that exists we do as much as we can. A big part of this is collaborating with private firms such as tourism agencies. We are also looking for outside money, investment money from the United States and Europe.”

The battle for tourist dollars will be an uphill one, however. Brochures pushing travel are often filled with murky translations, airlines don’t always run on time and booking a flight may require repeated reconfirmations, then loss of the seat anyway. Even South American governments acknowledge that hotel and restaurant service is under par.

But patient, good-humored travelers who forgive the problems are rewarded by a ride via the world’s highest rail line over Peru’s Andes, a visit to the Galapagos Islands and shimmering sun at Cartagena, near where pirates once hid in wait for gold-filled galleons.

Is there the chance that tourists could encounter danger? There could be. To maximize safety, Colombia-bound travelers should check with the State Department Citizen Emergency Center (202-647-5225) or the South American Explorer’s Club (303-320-0388). The nonprofit club makes light of State Department advisories, especially those on Peru, saying the warnings have more to do with politics than with danger. Peruvians involved in the travel industry have charged that the travel warnings are punitive, the result of negative feelings toward President Alan Garcia by both the Reagan and Bush administrations.

Though many U.S. travelers have been warned away from Colombia, Canadians still flock each winter to the sun-soaked beaches of Cartagena, which had been untouched by drug violence until the bombing of the Hilton Hotel in October, 1989.

To attract U.S. vacationers in 1989, some tourism agencies adopted an advertising tactic that worked successfully with Canadians: the word “Colombia” is omitted from travel brochures and ads promoting Cartagena.

“In Canada they don’t sell Colombia, they sell Cartagena--a Caribbean resort city,” said Fernandez Sardina, a manager at Cartagena’s DeCameron Hotel. “We’ve got North Americans who don’t even realize it’s in Colombia.”

Boosting South America’s quest for tourism is its continued move toward democracy. For many years the presence of military dictators in Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay kept travelers away. But when Gen. Augusto Pinochet leaves Chile’s leadership this month, only Paraguay will remain under a military government, and that administration has promised to hold free elections soon.

Yet one major barrier to tourism remains: money. When Buenos Aires’ prices rose sixfold last fall, North Americans with reservations to the annual polo championship canceled their vacations. But inflation in South America has run tandem with local currency devaluation, so U.S. dollar-rich travelers generally do not feel the impact. In fact, one of South America’s greatest assets is its price, starting with special air fares.

Aeroperu’s “Around South America” ticket offering 45 days of travel and seven countries starts at $759 from Miami. Avianca, Ecquatoriana, Lloyd Aereo Boliviano and Lineas Aereas Paraguayas have similar deals. Avianca, Ecquatoriana, Aerolineas Argentinas and Varig all fly from Los Angeles.

South American carriers also offer reduced domestic fares. Aerolineas Argentina’s $290 plan allows 30 days of unlimited travel within the country, while the $330 “Brazil Pass” is good for 21 days of travel on Varig and sister carrier Cruzeiro. Avianca’s 30-day “Know Colombia” ticket allows 10 domestic stops for $224. Avensa’s special domestic fares for Venezuela range from $110 for seven days to $139 for 21 days of unlimited travel.

If money is no object, South America can be seen Christopher Columbus style--by ship. Regency Cruises just added South America to its 1990 lineup, making it the 13th cruise line headed to the Southern Hemisphere. Cost of the 47-day cruise down the east coast of the continent, though the Strait of Magellan and north along the Pacific coast to the Panama Canal starts at $7,995 per person.

For a special vacation, Society Expeditions cruises staffed by naturalists stop at nature reserves on Argentina’s Valdes peninsula and Antarctica and cruise up the Amazon River. Amazon journeys start at $3,990. Cruises that include Antarctica start at $6,290.

The Amazon river and rain forest offer visitors the richest collection of plants, animals and birds on the planet and a wide range of travel options--from machete-wielding treks through thick jungles to luxury camps where the most demanding guests can get a cold beer, an elaborate meal of succulent fish and exotic fruit, and English-speaking guides. There may be no power or running water on the jungle junkets, but kerosene lamps and a leisurely swing in a hammock while watching exotic colored birds are sufficient substitutes.

In Buenos Aires, the “city that never sleeps,” dinner rarely begins before 10 p.m., smoky cafes are filled late with wine-sipping patrons and sultry tango music wafts from clubs until dawn. Buenos Aires is a haven for opera lovers who meet at the opulent Colon Theater, for reading fanatics who have 4,500 bookstores to choose from and for food lovers. The cuisine ranges from French to Chinese, but Italian pastas and grilled beef are the mainstay. Some restaurants claim they serve half a ton of beef nightly.

Buenos Aires’ charms lure not only North Americans and Europeans but also other South Americans--putting hotel space in short supply. Until more hotels are built, the government and Aerolineas Argentinas are promoting other Argentine destinations heavily, including the city of Mendoza and Valdes peninsula, with its penguin reserves and whale sightings.

Mendoza, among Argentina’s finest vineyards, is growing in popularity among tourists seeking hiking, mountain climbing and skiing. Nearby, Las Lenas ski resort in the shadow of 22,834-foot Mt. Aconcagua, the continent’s tallest peak, hosted the 1989 Pan Am Winter Games.

Some South America highlights:

Bolivia: Not far from La Paz lies the pre-Incan archeological site of Tiahuanaco and icy blue Titicaca, the world’s highest navigable lake. For those interested in Bolivia’s checkered past, Potosi is worth a visit. Its silver mines were once so rich that the expression “worth a Potosi” was coined, but the mining carried with it a sorrowful legacy. Eight million Indian and African slaves died in the mines between 1545 and 1825.

Brazil: Rio de Janeiro is synonymous with exuberance and excess. The beach is a passion for the Cariocas, as Rio’s residents are known, and tourists often find that passion contagious. Once sun bronzed, visitors can take a cable car up Sugar Loaf Mountain, boat to islands or watch the sizzling night life. But beware the dangers of AIDS, which has grown to be a particularly serious problem.

Chile: Home to the giant statues called moai , Easter Island, which is 2,300 miles off western South America, is Chile’s top tourist attraction. In the 20 years since it was opened to visitors seeking quiet beaches, horseback riding, snorkeling, bicycling and luaus, the volcanic island’s Polynesian inhabitants have so successfully managed tourism that their work is used as an international model.

After Pinochet leaves office, energetic promotions are expected for this country where street crime is low, hotel and restaurant service is good and buses, trains and planes run on time. Just 75 miles from modern Santiago is Vina del Mar, where rock stars sun on the beach, actors sip Chilean wine in outdoor cafes and the continent’s biggest music festival is held every February.

To the south, skiing in Portillo is tops, and from Punta Arenas, with its wildlife reserves and fiords, charter flights are available to Chile’s base in Antarctica.

Colombia: Cartagena was once Colombia’s Caribbean gem, but the spotlight has moved to the San Andres Islands, an English-speaking former pirate haven that offers deep-sea fishing, scuba diving, swimming, picnics on the cays and emerald shopping in its duty-free stores.

Ecuador: To protect its ecology, fewer than 20,000 people a year are allowed to visit the Galapagos Islands, home of 500-pound tortoises, penguins and rare fauna and flora. Tourists who don’t make that trip can head to Ecuador’s highlands and the handicraft center of Cuenca, where you find the country’s best and least-expensive deals on detailed embroideries, colorful weavings and Panama hats. Close by is the Inca fortress of Ingapirca.

Paraguay: Tourism is not well developed and the heavy military presence may unnerve North Americans. But Asuncion, the capital, is worth a shopping stop en route from mighty Iguacu Falls at the junction of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil.

Delicate nanduti lace, embroidered table linens and leather are popular purchases, as are tapes of Paraguay’s lovely harp music. From Asuncion, visitors can travel on one of the continent’s oldest trains, a 130-year-old wood-burning steam locomotive.

Peru: Cuzco and Machu Picchu remain Peru’s top draw, but interest is growing in an archeological dig that made international headlines last year. The Moche Indian burial ground at Sipan turned out to be the richest intact tomb ever found in the Americas. And the grave of the “Warrior Lord of Sipan,” laden with gold, silver, copper and turquoise, is just the first of at least two such graves to be explored, promises Peruvian archeologist Walter Alva, an advocate of what he calls “cultural tourism.”

Norwegian archeologist Thor Heyerdahl, is welcoming tourists at the ancient desert pyramid his archeologists are uncovering down the road from Sipan. A lookout point and picnic grounds are open at the site and Heyerdahl wants to add a catwalk so tourists can get close to the dig without disturbing the scientists.

Uruguay: When Argentina’s economy went haywire, neighboring Uruguay lowered its hotel and restaurant prices to attract Argentine tourists, making it a bargain for North Americans. Visitors congregate on the white-sand beaches of Punta del Este, where tourists rub elbows with South American celebrities and politicians.

Venezuela: The coastline is shaded by palm trees, there are coral reefs for snorkeling, gentle waters for swimming and ocean breezes for wind-sailing. For city lovers, Caracas boasts some of the hemisphere’s best restaurants and shops, where bargains range from leather goods to 18-carat gold jewelry. Away from the coast are Angel Falls, the world’s highest waterfall, and the Gran Sabana area with its unusual flat-topped geographical formations--believed to have been the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Lost World.”