Tourism played a minor but expanding role in the economy in the 1980s. In 1986 the industry generated foreign-exchange earnings in excess of US$100 million. Most tourists came from neighboring Brazil and Argentina and stayed an average of three days. Tourist arrivals tripled from 1970 to 1986, although the number of tourists tended to reflect fluctuations of the value of the guaraní vis-à- vis other currencies in the region. Many tourists did not visit Paraguay for traditional sightseeing but rather to purchase the cheap consumer goods that constantly flooded Paraguay's contraband markets, especially along the Brazilian border.
Data as of December 1988