MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay had a record tourism industry year in 2009

Minister Hector Lescano satisfied with the latest data

Uruguay had a very good tourist year in 2009 when the number of visitors climbed to 2.1 million and income reached 1.5 billion US dollars which is considered a record, according to Tourism Minister Hector Lescano.

“This represents a record both in the number of tourists and revenue for the country” said Lescano during a meeting with the press to advance some primary data about 2009.

Lescano added that the number of tourists should be even higher because the data does not include the cruise visitors, “a booming industry” in Uruguay which keeps growing year after year.

“We must be proud of what was achieved since the tourism industry in Uruguay actually advanced several percentage points when overall in the region it was down by 5%”, said Lescano.

The minister also pointed out that in spite of a drop in the number of Argentine tourists, (which make the bulk of summer visitors), the 3% contraction was more than compensated by the Brazilian influx.

Tourism agents pointed out that the strong Brazilian currency, contrary to a weaker Argentine peso, has been decisive as to the number of tourists.

Tourism revenue in 2009 was higher than income generated by Uruguayan meat sales, the country’s main export item.