MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay's Ministry of Tourism warmly welcomes the UruguayNow project

www.UruguayNow.com is the first constantly updated internet travel guide in English dedicated solely to Uruguay. It launched at the country's Ministry of Tourism on 13 April.

Benjamin Liberoff, chief advisor of the Ministry of Tourism, said that “UruguayNow is an excellent initiative. It will be a great help to potential visitors to Uruguay looking for travel information in English on the internet”.

In an interview broadcast on Uruguay's Channel 5 TV news, Nick Foster, director of the UruguayNow project, said that “travellers who prefer to read websites in English often don't have access to up-to-date information on accommodation, dining and sightseeing in Uruguay”.

 “We hope that UruguayNow will ultimately help to attract more tourists to Montevideo in particular,” said Nick Foster at the launch ceremony.

 “The capital and its immediate surroundings have such a lot to offer visitors. We hope that by reading the guide visitors will plan an extra day or two in Montevideo and experience at first hand the city's dynamic restaurant scene, its fascinating street markets and welcoming family wineries. By the end of the year we hope that a quarter of all English-speaking visitors to Montevideo who spend at least a night in the city will have taken a look at UruguayNow.”

 Conceived as a hybrid between a traditional travel guide and an online magazine, www.UruguayNow.com contains articles on different aspects of Uruguayan life – from art and music to the national passion for football – as well as reviews of hotels and restaurants in Montevideo and Punta del Este.

 At the launch ceremony at the Ministry of Tourism the winners of the 2010 UruguayNow awards were announced. These include the Regency Golf Hotel (winner in the Best-value Hotel in Montevideo category), L'Auberge (Best Boutique Hotel in Punta del Este) and Rara Avis (Montevideo's Most Innovative Dining Experience).

 The UruguayNow awards are designed to recognise excellence in Uruguay's hotel and restaurant sectors. A full list of award winners can be found at www.UruguayNow.com.  The award winners for 2011 will be announced in February of next year.