Messi, Milei and Mickey Mouse are driving Argentina's tourists to United States

Francisco González Galé didn’t expect to feel so at home when he fulfilled his kids’ wishes earlier this year by traveling to Walt Disney World in Orlando from Buenos Aires. The 46-year-old Argentine lawyer used to fly to the US once every couple of years, but he’s already been stateside twice in 2025.  

“I’ve been to Disney five or six times since the 1990s, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” said González Galé. “It was all Argentines.”

His fellow citizens are traveling in droves to the United States this year, bucking a sluggish overall trend of international tourism even before next year’s FIFA World Cup stands to draw more Argentines to see national hero Lionel Messi possibly play one last time on the big stage. 

A stronger currency since President Javier Milei took office, combined with Argentina’s feverish soccer passion as the United States hosted the Club World Cup — a warm-up for FIFA’s main event in 2026 — sparked a travel surge. More than 413,000 Argentines visited the US in the first six months of the year, up almost 23 percent from the same period in 2024 and by far the biggest increase for overseas arrivals among the top 20 countries, according to the US International Trade Administration.

With the United States set to co-host the world’s largest sporting event alongside Mexico and Canada next year, that’s offering hope the soccer-obsessed nation could help make up for some shortfalls elsewhere. Tourists from places like France and Germany are increasingly skipping the US in part due to US President Donald Trump’s policies. 

In June, a near record number of Argentines came to watch the country’s two biggest clubs, Boca Juniors and River Plate, feature in the club competition, even hosting massive beachside pep rallies in Miami. Their passion for football hasn’t changed. What did change was the sharp appreciation of the Argentine peso last year, which boosted their purchasing power in dollars and made international travel far more accessible.

Paula Costa noticed the boost from Argentines. Her Miami restaurant Bunbury lost customers last year as local rents and living costs jumped. But she says as much as half her clientele on any given night is now Argentine. Costa hosts “Argentina night,” which has become a hot ticket. 

“Every time we post the event on Eventbrite, it sells out immediately,” says Costa, a native Argentine herself. “Sometimes we have to cancel guests because we hit our capacity, which is 230 people.” 

Milei’s economic policies led to the peso appreciating against the greenback last year, providing Argentines with newfound buying power that’s translated into a boom in sales of homes, cars and international flights.

The number of Argentines travelling abroad overall is up by nearly 60 percent this year to almost 11 million, equal to about a quarter of the nation’s population. Major carriers including Delta Air Lines Inc and American Airlines Group Inc plan to increase the number of available US-Argentina flights this year. Trump and Milei — who are close allies — recently agreed to let Argentina enter the evaluation process to be considered for the visa waiver programme.

Argentines’ trips contrast to Korean, Dutch, Canadian and Irish citizens, who are travelling less to the US, partly because of global economic uncertainty and rising animosity toward White House policies. The US tourism downturn is forecast to cost US$12 billion in lost revenue this year.

In that context, Vince Baglivo is stepping up efforts to attract tourists ahead of the World Cup. The executive director of the Ironbound Business Improvement District in Newark, New Jersey, is teaming up with the city to launch marketing campaigns to showcase local restaurants and boast of its proximity to both New York, Philadelphia and Metlife Stadium, where the final World Cup match will be played. 

“Whether you’re rooting for Brazil or Argentina or Portugal or Ecuador or the United States or Germany, it doesn’t matter,” said Baglivo. “When the spotlight hits you, you want to dance fast and hard.”