USHUAIA, Argentina (AP) 鈥� Travelers hoping to catch a glimpse of Magellanic penguins and humpback whales have journeyed in greater numbers every year to Ushuaia, the main at the southernmost point of Argentina.
The wind-lashed city that bills itself as the 鈥渆nd of the world鈥� now fears for its future. In the last week, the remote outpost has found itself at the center of speculation about the source of a deadly on an after Argentina’s Health Ministry whether the outbreak鈥檚 first victims, a Dutch couple who died in April, contracted the rat-borne virus there.
Questions surround the investigation. Authorities in Ushuaia 鈥� the capital of left-leaning Tierra del Fuego Province, which has frequently clashed with libertarian 鈥� of a smear campaign. The says it can’t rule out any destination visited by the Dutch bird enthusiasts during their monthslong road trip through Argentina and Chile before boarding the ship in Ushuaia.
Despite a lack of any evidence to suggest the started in Ushuaia, people here whose livelihoods depend on foreign visitors say they are feeling the effects.
鈥淭his is a place that we鈥檝e tried to promote as being as far away as possible from all the world鈥檚 problems 鈥� war, racism, health problems, too,鈥� said Julio Lovece, the former tourism secretary of Ushuaia. 鈥淭here鈥檚 concern because our main attraction is clean and pure landscapes, the imaginary idea of the end of the world.鈥�
Hantavirus anxieties cause some travelers to reconsider
The arrival of winter has emptied Ushuaia save for a trickle of Brazilian tourists in puffy jackets and big hoods bobbing down the sleet-slick streets like the penguins they’ve come to visit.
鈥淲e got a little worried this was something similar to what we experienced with COVID,鈥� said Vin铆cius Pezzini, 38, an investment banker from S茫o Paulo on his honeymoon. 鈥淏ut from what it seems, everything is functioning normally.”
As the subpolar Patagonian wind blows in off the Beagle Channel, tour operators already are looking toward the high season. Winter is when deep-pocketed passengers plan summer cruises to Antarctica. Several travel agents said that have already caused some Americans and Europeans to scrap cruise bookings for next season. They declined to say how many.
鈥淲e have seen a number of passengers canceling trips, but my main concern is not the cancellations but people who were thinking about going to Ushuaia but had two or three destinations to choose from and now may go to Southeast Asia or Africa,鈥� said 脕ngel Brisighelli, owner of the Ushuaia-based Rumbo Sur travel agency. 鈥淭hat damage won鈥檛 be visible until much later.鈥�
It’s a reminder of just how fragile the tourism economy remains, especially for cruises place in the when it comes to .
Some officials in Tierra del Fuego are subscribing to the philosophy that all press is good press.
鈥淲e suffered a loss of prestige, yes. But this is also a chance to show that Ushuaia is one of the safest places in the world,鈥� said Juan Pavlov, the secretary of foreign affairs at the Tierra del Fuego Tourism Institute.
Antarctica tourism turned Ushuaia into a boomtown
Many residents of Tierra del Fuego, lured by tax breaks to the rugged region in the 1970s, remember when Antarctic travel meant naval patrols and research expeditions. Today, the white continent routinely tops bucket lists of vacationers from around the world.
A decade ago, just over 38,400 Antarctic cruise passengers set out from Ushuaia, a city of 80,000. In the 2025-2026 season, more than 135,000 did, according to Argentine port authorities, many hoping to experience the world’s largest before they .
Ninety percent of Antarctic cruises depart from Ushuaia, and the city says it relies on tourism for over 25% of its revenue. Any drop in visitors, however small, can have ripple effects throughout the economy, said Patricio Cornejo, head of local travel agency Tierra del Fuego Aventura.
鈥淓verything would exist in a different reality without the dynamism that tourism creates here, especially when other industries fail to generate momentum,鈥� he said.
Under Milei, Tierra del Fuego has weathered a series of economic blows. The government’s has battered the island鈥檚 mainstay electronics production, while its strengthening of the local currency has given Argentines , discouraging tourism at home that keeps Ushuaia afloat during the low season.
Questions hang over Argentina’s investigation
Argentina鈥檚 apparent lack of urgency in hunting for the origin of the outbreak has perplexed experts overseas.
Officials are still struggling to fill the gaps in the late Dutch couple鈥檚 itinerary. Scientists from a government research institute have yet to arrive in Ushuaia more than two weeks after Argentina’s Health Ministry said it would send them to test rodents in the province, which has never registered a case of the hantavirus.
鈥淭he investigation is going to be key for us to see what we can learn from the outbreak,鈥� said Mark Loafman, a family medicine doctor and public health expert at Cook County Health in Chicago. 鈥淲e鈥檇 like to see hypotheses based on science, and not on concern over tourism.鈥�
The Pan American Health Organization 鈥� to which Argentina is party despite from the World Health Organization last year 鈥� defended Argentina鈥檚 response and said it was working with its government to 鈥渟trengthen the detection and follow-up of potential cases.鈥�
鈥淲hile the ongoing investigation remains important, its broader public health relevance for the Americas is limited, given that the disease is endemic in the region,鈥� the organization said in response to questions on whether the lagging investigation caused concern.
Here in Ushuaia, authorities argue the most logical source of contagion is the that spans southern Chile and three Argentine provinces, where the same identified in the cruise outbreak circulates.
But health officials say they have no record of the Dutch couple visiting those endemic areas during the incubation period for the virus 鈥� estimated to be between nine and 45 days before the arrival of symptoms on April 6.
In recent days, they’ve stressed that all is well in Argentina’s treasured tourist destinations.
鈥淭ourism operators tell us that many trip reservations have been canceled, so we must make this clarification,鈥� announced Jos茅 Contreras, mayor of the village of Epuy茅n where a 2018 hantavirus outbreak killed 11 people. “Epuy茅n has no hantavirus this season. People should feel at ease and continue to visit.鈥�
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