An Aussie tourist, yet to be identified, was shot dead in Mendoza, Argentina, by two thieves riding in tandem on a motorcycle, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Mendoza, located on the eastern side of Andes, is a favourite stopover among international tourists who are heading to the mountains to climb.

According to local reports, the victim was touring a local park when the thieves snatched his back pack. The tourist resisted but fell to the ground. The thieves found this the opportune time to fire a shot at the tourist before fleeing the crime scene.

Juan Carlos Caleri, the Mendoza police chief, told a local television network that the tourist suffered a gunshot in the neck and another gunshot on the chest. Paramedics tried to revived him but to no avail.

A police helicopter scoured the crime scene, while police searched the nearby neighbourhood of La Favorita in Mendoza. The suspects were described as teens with shaven heads.

The Argentinian Security Ministry published an announcement of reward amounting to (A$5,400 for any information that could lead to the whereabouts of the suspect.

In a separate report from Fairfax, the tourist had been saying at Itaka Hostel where he met two other tourists, an Australian woman and a French man - whom he was also walking with in the park where he was killed. He was about to check out on Wednesday.

"We can't talk to his friends or anything, they are with the police right now. We just heard the news, and then after that the police came here. I know that they were by the park and someone tried to mug him. He went outside from the hostel this morning and never came back," Fabyan Calle, a hostel employee, said in an interview with Fairfax.

Calle said they were all shocked because the park where the tourist was killed is generally safe.

"The main part is not too dangerous but [other parts] could be. We're always trying to tell the tourists which part to go to," he said.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said that the department is already looking into the case of the Aussie tourist killed in Argentina.