Uruguay will be receiving fifty cruise calls less this 2014/15 season, which is 26% down compared to a year ago, revealed the country's Deputy Tourism and Sports minister, Antonio Carambula during the official launching of the season. This means Montevideo will be hosting 104 calls and Punta del Este, 70, compared to the 237 between both terminals (121 and 116) in 2013/14.
Uruguay expects a slowing down of cruise activity this season, probably in the range of 10% less vessel calls, particularly in Punta del Este, because of logistics problems with the circuits. However this will be partly compensated by the two Costa Cruise company vessels that will be operating from Montevideo as the starting point and end of South Atlantic tours.
A significant drop in the number of calls and visitors is forecasted for this coming 2014/15 cruise season in Uruguay, according to tourism officials. While in the last season Uruguay received 238 cruise calls, beginning November the number is expected to drop to 187, this apparently because of the very high costs in the ports of Buenos Aires and Brazilian terminals.
Argentina’s debt problems threatens to worsen trade tensions in Mercosur, adding to the economic woes of Brazil in a tense election year and causing headaches in Uruguay as the Argentine economy looks likely to plunge deeper into recession.
During the 2013/14 season, 237 cruise vessels called in Uruguay's two main ports, Montevideo and Punta del Este, with 409.367 visitors, a 6,3% increase in calls over the previous season, according to a report released by the country's presidential web-site.
Uruguayan president Jose Mujica is scheduled to attend a reception on Saturday at Argentina's tall ship Libertad, which together with several similar vessels is participating in the '2014 Latin American Sails' tour of thirteen Latin American and Caribbean ports, and on Friday arrived to Punta del Este.
Uruguay estimates that the number of arriving tourists to the country by the end of the year will reach 2.830.000, which is 40.000 less than in 2012, but still encouraging given the regional conditions, according to Tourism minister Liliam Kechichian.
Uruguay hosted last week a conference and workshop on tools and strategies to strengthen the response to cruise ship accidents. David Jardine-Smith, from the International Maritime Rescue Federation, and Roly McKie, HM Coastguard Staff Officer, Search and Rescue Operations, were the facilitators of the event.
The high operational costs in the ports of the region is having a negative impact for the cruise industry and some of the companies have already withdrawn vessels from the South Atlantic routes, warned Mediterranean Shipping Company, MSC and Royal Caribbean during a regional conference on the industry sponsored by Uruguay's Ministry of Tourism.
Even when Uruguay's official cruise season is scheduled for November this last Sunday Montevideo received “Costa Neo Romantica” a vessel on a world tour. She was expected to call at the Atlantic seaside resort of Punta del Este, but adverse weather conditions cancelled the visit.