MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Cruise visitors in Uruguay this season close to 400.000

Punta del Este has become the main attraction

Uruguay’s Ministry of Tourism forecasts some 400.000 tourists and crew members will be visiting the country during this summer cruise season, which represents a slight increase over the previous year.

“In the 2008 season Montevideo and Punta del Este received between 230.000 and 250.000 cruise visitors and 130.000 crew members and this year we expect that number to be in the range of 400.000” said Benjamin Liberoff, Ministry of Tourism advisor.

It is estimated that such a turnover of visitors injected to the Uruguayan economy an estimated 18 million US dollars, added Liberoff.

“To this we must add another 22 to 25 million US dollars, basically provisions both for on board consumption and for the running of the vessels”, said Liberoff who nevertheless cautioned that because of the global slowdown to keep the industry moving, many companies and tourist operators offered rebate packages to the bone and therefore “visitors won’t be so spending enthusiastic as in previous seasons”.

The cruise season in Uruguay officially started November 20th and is expected to end March 29th with 198 vessel calls confirmed in Montevideo and Punta del Este, reported the Fluvial and Maritime Transport Department. Of that number 90 will be calling in Uruguay’s capital and 108 in the Atlantic resort of Punta del Este.

Four cruise vessels visited Uruguay in November; 40 are scheduled for December; 62 in January; 63 in February and 29 in March.

In the three seasons there has been a sustained growth in the number of cruise calls to Uruguay according to local statistics. Punta del Este has also definitively become the main calling place for the industry.

In 2006/07, the number was 99, (65 in Montevideo and 34 Punta del Este); 2007/08, 165, (79 & 86) and 2008/09, /79 & 86).