Optimism for the Holiday Season in Punta del Este-Uruguay

There is optimism for the holiday season in Punta del Este, Uruguay, the country’s premier destination in the easternmost part of South America.

The Director of Tourism in Punta del Este, Martín Laventure, has stated that the city is getting ready with “optimism” to face the upcoming summer season, which is marked by the exchange rate difference between Uruguay and Argentina.

Laventure told the EFE news agency that the exchange rate difference creates “uncertainty,” and he doesn’t forget that the neighboring country is in the midst of an electoral process.

“We are optimistic about having an at least acceptable holiday season in Punta del Este, Uruguay,” he emphasized.

He also mentioned that they have worked very well with visitors from other countries such as Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and the rest of the region.

The Holiday Season in Punta del Este-Uruguay

They hope that domestic tourism will compensate for the absence of the Argentine middle class, which is the one facing difficulties in vacationing in Uruguay.

Regarding forecasts, Laventure explained that “the numbers are an important factor,” but they need to wait to make evaluations.

For that, they will need to study the spending and the duration of tourists’ stays in Uruguay. Although he stated that they don’t have the numbers yet, they estimate that they will “surpass those from last year.”

In the first quarter of this year, the arrival of foreign visitors increased by 11.6% compared to the same pre-pandemic period in 2019, with 1,219,198 non-resident people arriving.

This number of visitors brought in $741 million for the country. Of the total tourists who arrived in Uruguay between January and March 2023, 716,548 were Argentines, and 145,459 were Brazilians.

On the other hand, Laventure noted that tourism in Punta del Este has always been oriented toward visitors with higher purchasing power, “who are obviously less affected by the economic situation in Argentina.”

In that regard, he pointed out that the situation is different in the rest of the country.

“We saw it last year: Punta del Este maintained good occupancy levels, the influx of tourists, and even currency inflow, but in the rest of the country, the situation was different,” he described.

Also read: The magical Iguazu Falls are a gem in the Americas