The official figure: 67%, not 66%
On 9 April 2026 the El Chaltén municipality's tourism office published its review of the 2025/26 season, October 2025 to March 2026. Average occupancy was 67%, with peaks close to 90% in high season. The analysis covers 270 licensed properties with 5,100 beds.
The same report says 75% of visitors came to El Chaltén for the first time, 55% were Argentine and the average stay was 5 days, mostly for trekking in the northern part of Los Glaciares National Park. The peaks matched the town's 40th anniversary, the Ultra Fitz Roy race and the National Trekking Festival.
We found no official source saying 66%. If someone quotes it to you, it's most likely the 67% rounded from memory.
| Period | Occupancy |
|---|---|
| 2025/26 season, October to March | 67% average |
| 2025/26 high season | Peaks close to 90% |
| Carnival, 13–18 February 2026 | 85% average |
| 14–18 August 2026 | 10.6% average |
| 28–31 August 2026, with a public holiday | 18.4% average, close to 30% on the 29th |
What the 67% doesn't say
It's an average over six months and 270 properties. It doesn't say a third of the hotels don't rent. It says that, on average, a third of the capacity went unsold. That could be a whole town at 67%, or some properties full all January and others at 40%. The report doesn't publish the spread.
Nor does it say whether it was measured per room or per bed, or how many properties answered. October, November and March pull the average down; December to February push it up. In August 2026, off season, the same office measured 10.6% and 18.4%.
One more fact from the municipality matters when reading the number: what grew most in supply was short-term rentals through platforms, houses and flats, often several units per property. More beds share the same demand.
Per room or per bed: up to 13 points apart
There are two occupancy rates. Room occupancy counts how many rooms were sold. Bed occupancy counts how many people slept against how many beds there were. A double room with one guest is 100% occupied per room and 50% per bed.
El Chaltén isn't in INDEC's hotel occupancy survey, but El Calafate is. In January 2025 its hotels had 63.5% room occupancy and 50.4% bed occupancy. In November 2025, 62.9% and 51.1%. Same hotels, same month, 12 or 13 points apart depending on how you measure.
So before comparing yourself with El Chaltén's 67%, check which of the two you're calculating. One more difference: INDEC's survey covers hotels and similar establishments, not short-term rentals.
How much an empty third is, in nights
With the municipality's numbers: 5,100 beds times 182 nights, October to March, is 928,200 possible bed-nights. If the 67% is per bed, about 306,000 went unsold.
That's as if the whole town had closed for 60 nights in the middle of the season. If the 67% is per room, the empty beds are even more. It's the figure worth keeping in mind when people say the season was good: it was, and there's still a third to fill.
How to calculate your hotel's occupancy rate
Room occupancy = room-nights sold ÷ room-nights available × 100. Bed occupancy = guest-nights ÷ bed-nights available × 100. Work it out per month, not just per season, to see where it drops.
Example: a 10-room property open October to March has 1,820 room-nights. At 67% it sold 1,219. At an average rate of USD 120 it billed USD 146,280.
Occupancy alone isn't enough. The number revenue managers use is RevPAR, revenue per available room: occupancy times average rate. In the example it's USD 80.4. If 60% of those nights came through platforms at 18% commission, USD 15,798 left and net RevPAR drops to USD 71.7. Two properties at the same 67% can earn very differently depending on where each night came from.
On Booking, hotels compete for a spot too
When a traveller searches El Chaltén on Booking, they see a ranked list. Booking explains how it builds its default order, “Our top picks”: it weighs how many people click on each property and how many bookings it gets, which depend on reviews, availability, policies and price.
On the same page it says that how much commission a property pays, and whether it's in Genius or Preferred Partner, can also play a part. Preferred Partner is the programme where you pay more commission in exchange for a badge. In April 2026 Italy's competition authority opened an investigation into it. Booking says the programmes are optional and lawful.
With 270 properties in the same town on the same list, the top spot is partly paid for in commission points. And that spot isn't yours: stop paying and someone else takes it.
The fairest competition is on the open web
Google says so in its help pages: there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. It ranks by relevance, distance and prominence, and prominence counts reviews, links and content. Ads exist, but they're labelled as ads.
There, a small property can beat a big one with a fast website, a complete Google profile, answered reviews and pages that answer what travellers ask. The work stays: content, links and reviews are still yours next year.
That's where we do SEO, and it's where the report's data points: three in four visitors were coming for the first time and stayed five days on average. These are people who plan, compare and search the property's name before booking.
Where the missing occupancy is
High season nearly fills itself. The empty third is in October, November and March, and in the low season. Those travellers book further ahead, compare more and arrive from Google, Maps and, more and more, from ChatGPT or Gemini answers.
Four concrete things: calculate your room and bed occupancy month by month and compare with the 67%. Note which channel each night came from, so you know your net RevPAR. Keep your Google profile complete, with no duplicates and answered reviews. And make your website load fast on a phone, in Spanish and English, with your rates showing on Google Hotels.
If you want to see what each night sold through platforms costs you today, the maths is in our Booking commission calculator.
Questions
- What was hotel occupancy in El Chaltén in the 2025/26 season?
- 67% on average from October 2025 to March 2026, with peaks close to 90% in high season, according to the El Chaltén municipality's tourism office (April 2026).
- Was it really 66%?
- The official published figure is 67%. We found no official source saying 66%.
- Does 67% mean a third of hotels don't rent?
- No. It's an average of capacity: on average a third of the beds or rooms went unsold. The municipality doesn't publish how that splits across properties.
- How many properties and beds does El Chaltén have?
- 270 licensed properties and about 5,100 beds, according to the El Chaltén municipality in April 2026.
- How do you calculate a hotel's occupancy rate?
- Per room: room-nights sold ÷ room-nights available × 100. Per bed: guest-nights ÷ bed-nights available × 100. The bed rate is usually 10 to 13 points lower.
- What is occupancy in El Chaltén in the low season?
- In August 2026 the municipality measured 10.6% on the 14th–18th and 18.4% on the 28th–31st, with a peak close to 30% on the 29th because of a public holiday.
- Can you pay to rank higher on Google?
- Not in local results or Maps: Google says there's no way to request or pay for a better ranking. You can pay for ads, which are labelled as ads.
Sources
- Municipalidad de El Chaltén — Positivo balance tras el final de la temporada 25/26 (9 April 2026)
- Municipalidad de El Chaltén — La ocupación en Carnaval fue cercana al 90 por ciento (9 March 2026)
- Municipalidad de El Chaltén — Comienza a repuntar la actividad turística (8 September 2026)
- TiempoSur — El Chaltén ya superó las 5.000 camas de alojamiento (12 April 2026)
- INDEC — Encuesta de ocupación hotelera, enero de 2025 (cuadro 10, El Calafate)
- INDEC — Encuesta de ocupación hotelera, noviembre de 2025 (cuadro 10, El Calafate)
- Booking.com — How we work (search results ranking)
- greenMe — AGCM investigation into Booking.com's Preferred Partner programmes (April 2026)
- Google Business Profile Help — Tips to improve your local ranking on Google
- Andes Developers — Calculadora de comisión de Booking