September 21, 2026 Pix Below Zero: Brazilian tourists’ spending in the 2026 winter season
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July 2026 confirmed that Brazil is the top source market for tourists visiting Argentina, with the highest year-over-year growth among all countries of origin. According to INDEC’s International Tourism Statistics (ETI) report, 466,200 non-resident tourists entered the country that month across all points of entry, of which 168,300 — 36.1% of the total — reside in Brazil.
That’s the highest share among all countries of origin, and it represents 22.1% year-over-year growth — well above the overall inbound tourism average (+9.1%). The trend also shows up in the country’s busiest air corridor: 73,700 Brazilian tourists entered through Ezeiza and Aeroparque in July, with an average stay of 6.6 nights, the shortest of all origins surveyed — a pattern of frequent, short trips.
What we saw in our own transaction data: they pay with Pix just like at home
Using that INDEC data as a starting point, at kamiPay we analyzed Pix payments made by Brazilian tourists at Argentine businesses during July. The average ticket by category was: Travel Agencies USD 450, Hotels USD 421, Taxis & Transportation USD 341, Tours USD 328, Car Rentals USD 302, Apparel USD 222, Wine Shops USD 108, Bars & Restaurants USD 68, and Regional Products USD 67.
In Travel Agencies, Hotels, and Tours — the categories with the highest tickets — a large share of that amount corresponds to bookings paid in advance, often as a deposit, before the tourist even arrives in Argentina. At Wine Shops, Bars & Restaurants, or Regional Products stores, on the other hand, the payment is a single, in-person transaction with a Pix QR code at the counter. The difference matters: paying for a booking remotely, without having set foot in the country, requires a higher level of trust than an in-store purchase.
That transparent, cross-border use of Pix already works as a trust signal for Brazilian tourists: they see exactly what they’re paying, expressed in reais, with no mental math and no uncertain settlement to wait for. That predictability encourages them to spend even before crossing the border.
“Brazilians pay with Pix in Argentina exactly like they do back home: no friction, no need to change habits or payment methods. That’s what kamiPay set out to solve, and this season’s numbers confirm that real-time cross-border payments make sense both for tourists and for the businesses and merchants who receive settlement instantly, at the best exchange rate,” said Matías Gorganchian, co-founder of kamiPay.