Business This article is more than 17 years oldBuenos Aires or bust
This article is more than 17 years oldOliver Balch charts the irresistible rise of the tango-and-boob-job break in ArgentinaForeign tourists have long felt the pull of Buenos Aires's tango halls and dinosaur-sized steaks. But now a new feature of the so-called Paris of Latin America is drawing international visitors: the surgeon's knife.
Alongside sightseeing trips and dance shows, holidaymakers are finding time to have their breasts augmented or their teeth whitened.
With Argentina expecting 4.1 million foreign visitors this year, worth an estimated £1.9bn to the national economy, tourism is big business.
Tourist numbers have increased year on year by around 10% since 2003, with Argentina proving particularly popular with British visitors. The number of UK tourists is up by more than a quarter (27%) on last year, with an increasing number of Britons coming for plastic surgery.
The clinics of Buenos Aires's surgeons began filling up with foreigners soon after the economy imploded and the currency devalued in 2002. As a result, most treatments cost around a third of UK prices.
Argentina has two major benefits, other than cost. First and foremost, its cosmetic surgeons are among some of the best in the world. Only this weekend, Buenos Aires hosted an international symposium on "21st-century plastic surgery". On the agenda were workshops on third-generation ultrasonic liposuction and periorbital (around the eyes) rejuvenation.
Argentinian plastic surgeons have good reason to be so skilled: domestic demand for breast implants, laser surgery and nip-and-tuck treatments is sky high in this style-obsessed country.
One in 30 Argentinians is estimated to have gone under the plastic surgeon's knife, making the population the most operated on in the world after the US and Mexico. Boob jobs are a popular birthday present from Argentinian parents stuck as to what to buy their teenage daughters.
The second big draw is the country's reputation as an exotic tourist destination. Home to snow-capped mountains, crystal-clear lakes, colossal waterfalls and gaucho-strewn prairies, Argentina offers would-be patients a tempting array of holiday options.
Plenitas is typical of the boutique clinics that have opened in the capital over recent years to cater for the medical tourism boom. Based in a smart three-storey office in the city's exclusive Belgrano district, the company employs a dozen surgeons to work with its client base of foreign patients.
"We offer tailor-made services from beginning to end," explains the clinic's marketing coordinator, Martín Díaz Andrade. "We meet our patients at the airport, book their accommodation, arrange for them to meet the surgeon beforehand and then follow up with them once they return home."
Launched in 2003, Plenitas has expanded on its initial breast-implants-and-tango package with a wide range of different surgical procedures. Abdomen liposuction will set you back $1,000 (£530). Penis enlargement is priced at £1,330. For those with bigger budgets, there is the option of a full gastric bypass for £6,470.
All the prices include hotel accommodation, airport transfers and travel advice. In addition, patients are assigned an English-speaking personal assistant for the length of their stay. Flights from the UK are not included in the price.
"Some of our patients have not travelled much in the past, so there's a natural concern about coming to Argentina. We try to put them at ease by taking good care of them and giving them all the information they need," Mr Andrade explains.
The strategy is working. Plenitas attracts around 500 patients a year from all over the world. The majority come from the US, where the notion of medical tourism is more familiar than it is in Europe. The company also has a "significant number" of British patients, as well as clients from Spain, France and Germany.
Rob Maietta, a London resident, admits to having been "very surprised" at the prices when he first inquired about dental treatment eight months ago.
"If I went to a normal dentist in London it would cost me around £40,000, so I decided to do some research into other options," he says.
The 37-year-old IT project manager investigated clinics in Australia, eastern Europe and the Balearic islands before settling on Argentina, where the work he wanted done was half the price of the next cheapest option. For £8,000 he was able to get 17 titanium dental implants - plus a nose job thrown in for good measure.
Mr Maietta completed his surgery successfully last week, but he admits to having early concerns about arranging everything through the internet. Plenitas, like other clinics specialising in offshore surgery, depends heavily on online marketing.
With only a website to rely on, potential health tourists to Argentina should check for referrals and testimonials, a spokesperson from the British embassy in Buenos Aires advises.
As yet, no accreditation system exists for private clinics in Argentina. However, individual surgeons do require a national medical licence to operate. Again, double-checking their credentials should be top of any patient's checklist.
"We have an important control system to certify surgeons", says Martín Mihura, director of the national association of surgeons. "There are some [without qualifications], although they operate in isolation."
Medical tourists should also be advised against planning a fortnight by the pool after plastic surgery: doctors recommend being out of the sun for at least two months after invasive cosmetic surgery. Tango dancing is also unadvisable.
Most patients choose to fit in their travelling before their operation and then use the tail end of their holiday to rest and recuperate. That said, cold weather helps the recovery process, making a trip to the ice caps of Antarctica a possibility - even if there are only penguins there to admire your new facelift.
Oliver Balch's email: o_balch@hotmail.com
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