MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay expects record cruise calls this coming 2022/2023 season

Ferraz estimated 122 cruise calls this summer in Montevideo, and another 70 at Punta del Este, the South Atlantic seaside. “It's a record number for Uruguay”.

The head of the Brazilian chapter of CLIA, Cruise Lines International Association, Marco Ferraz announced a record call of cruise vessels this coming season, the highest in ten years, both in Uruguay and Argentina. CLIA is considered the largest commercial association of the cruise industry with a membership of 55 companies.

Following on three years of absence because of the pandemic, “cruises will be returning to Uruguay and Argentina and in the specific case of Uruguay, it will be a record for the last ten years”, explained Ferraz during a cruise convention held in the Uruguayan city of Colonia, just across from Buenos Aires.

Ferraz estimated 122 cruise calls this summer in Montevideo, and another 70 at Punta del Este, the South Atlantic seaside. “It's a record number for Uruguay”.

The vessels will be arriving from the north, from Brazil on South American tours and a few from the south, more precisely Ushuaia, since these are long haul cruises circumnavigating the world.

According to the Uruguayan Ministry of Tourism the first cruise in Montevideo is expected on 7 December. But the ministry also pointed out that cruise calls anticipated in Uruguay will be higher than those announced by Ferraz, some 213 calls, and likewise a record number.

Figures released at the cruise convention in Colonia showed the following number of cruises calls in the last ten years: 2014/2015 season, 177 calls; 2015/2016 season, 165 calls; 2016/2017, 154 calls; 2017/2018, 141 calls; 2018/2019,148 calls; 2019/2020, 190 calls; 2020/2021, no calls and in 2021/2022, 25, with 213 calls expected this coming 2022/2023.

Ferraz estimated that the cruise industry turnover this season in Mercosur members and Chile will represent some 500,000 beds, and pointed out to the increasing number of options that are offered to cruise visitors. He also mentioned that an estimated 80% of cruise visitors choose to return to the country and congratulated Uruguay on its marketing policy and coordination of the different government agencies involved in welcoming cruise passengers