Travellers hoping to catch a glimpse of Magellanic penguins and humpback whales have journeyed in greater numbers every year to Ushuaia, the main Antarctic cruise hub at the southernmost point of Argentina.

The wind-lashed city that bills itself as the “end of the world” now fears for its future.

In recent weeks, the remote outpost has found itself at the centre of speculation about the source of a deadly hantavirus outbreak on an Atlantic cruise after Argentina’s Health Ministry said it was examining whether the outbreak’s first victims, a Dutch couple who died in April, contracted the rat-borne virus there.

Argentine scientists searching for the source of the outbreak arrived on May 18 in Ushuaia, the capital of left-leaning Tierra del Fuego Province, which has frequently clashed with the country’s libertarian President Javier Milei.

Their research institute said they would capture and analyse rodents in areas linked to the couple’s itinerary in the city.

Questions surround the investigation.

Authorities in Ushuaia say they’re victims of a smear campaign.

The Argentine Health Ministry says it can’t rule out any destination visited by the Dutch bird enthusiasts during their months-long road trip through Argentina and Chile before boarding the ship in Ushuaia.

Despite a lack of any evidence to suggest the outbreak started in Ushuaia, people here whose livelihoods depend on foreign visitors say they are feeling the effects.

“This is a place that we’ve tried to promote as being as far away as possible from all the world’s problems – war, racism, health problems, too,” said Julio Lovece, the former tourism secretary of Ushuaia.

“There’s concern because our main attraction is clean and pure landscapes, the imaginary idea of the end of the world.” Cancelled trips The arrival of winter has emptied Ushuaia save for a trickle of Brazilian tourists in puffy jackets and big hoods bobbing down the sleet-slick streets like the penguins they’ve come to visit.

“We got a little worried this was something similar to what we experienced with Covid-19,” said Vinicius Pezzini, 38, an investment banker from Sao Paulo, Brazil on his honeymoon.

“But from what it seems, everything is functioning normally.” As the sub-polar Patagonian wind blows in off the Beagle Channel, tour operators already are looking toward the next high season starting in October, when deep-pocketed passengers plan cruises to Antarctica.

Several travel agents said that fears about the Andes variant of the hantavirus have already caused some Americans and Europeans to scrap cruise bookings for next season.

They declined to say how many.

“We have seen a number of passengers cancelling trips, but my main concern is not the cancellations but people who were thinking about going to Ushuaia but had two or three destinations to choose from and now may go to South-East Asia or Africa,” said Angel Brisighelli, owner of the Ushuaia-based Rumbo Sur travel agency.

“That damage won’t be visible until much later.” It’s a reminder of just how fragile the tourism economy remains, especially for cruises occupying an outsized place in the public imagination....