BIZ BUZZ: Antarctica beckons to Filipinos
Your friends’ vacation photos from Japan, Korea or other popular Asian destinations may have swamped your social media feed in recent months. But for the more affluent Filipinos looking for more exotic adventures, the icy continent of Antarctica at the Earth’s South Pole has gained popularity in recent years.
We hear that it’s due to this newfound appetite for subzero expedition that more and more Filipinos are applying for visa to Argentina.
Many visitors to the Antarctic Peninsula, after all, use Latin American gateways—either Argentina or Chile—then cruise or fly to Antarctica.
The Port of Ushuaia in southernmost Argentina, for instance, is a popular entry point for those wanting to cruise to Antarctica to see some penguins, seals and whales in their natural habitat.
Based on unofficial but reliable estimates, there has been a 30 percent increase in Filipino visa applications to Argentina this year. And in the past year, there was likewise a 30-percent bump in such visa applications.
A well-placed source added that a vlog posted by veteran broadcaster Karen Davila in early 2024 has contributed to this surge in interest in Antarctica.
Even the staff members from the Embassy of Argentina have been surprised by the surge.
It’s a long and expensive journey from Manila. The cruise packages don’t come cheap—the lowest would be $10,000 to $15,000 per head for short journeys, while the longer and grander expeditions can cost $30,000 to $50,000.
Thus, even if some Filipinos are now scrimping on high-end consumer items, many are still willing to fork out moolah for luxury holidays.
