Those who make a living from tourism in the department of Maldonado, Uruguay, say that Punta del Este has two types of seasons: good ones and very good ones. And 2017 looks like the second and best season: they expect a record number of Argentines to arrive in the country. Check out what Liliam Kechichian, Minister of Tourism of Uruguay, tells us and find out what other destinations are hidden behind the “big brother”, Punta del Este. At the beginning of the last long weekend of the year, the inaugural flight of Aerolíneas Argentinas was made, direct COR-PDP. At the Punta del Este airport, the event was held in which authorities from Uruguay and Aerolíneas Argentinas received the Uruguayan press from Córdoba and Rosario (the direct flight Rosario-Punta del Este was also made).
– It is said that Punta has two seasons: “one good” and “one very good.” Which one do you expect this summer?
– “We expect a very good one. Yes, because last year we already had a notable growth in the arrival of Argentines, there was almost 25% more than in 2015. But the growth has been maintained throughout all the months, their arrival has been consolidated. We had at one point – when the dollar was at 4 reales – some drop in the arrival of Brazilians, which has still grown a lot. But since July it has been recovering. So I think that those two markets, which are important for Uruguay, show us auspicious figures until November, which make us think that we are on the threshold of a very good season” responds Minister Lilian Kechichian in dialogue with InfoNegocios.
– What countries do the rest of the tourists come from?
– “The rest of the tourists are about 60.000 Paraguayans and a similar number of Chileans, about 200.000 Europeans and about 150.000 North Americans.”
– What hotel capacity does Punta del Este have?
– “Well, Punta del Este has about 18.000 hotel beds, but it has almost 200.000 beds for Argentines as second homes. Therefore, in Punta del Este, we cannot only talk about the hotel industry, but we must also talk about the consolidated second homes that Argentines have been building here since the 60s.”
Curiously, the city of Punta del Este has 15.000 stable inhabitants, and is preparing to receive 1.500.000 people starting on December 23 of this year.
Rounding off the year, there was already a “record number of Argentines in the history of tourism in Uruguay, nearly 2 million who will arrive in all of 2016” highlights the minister and adds: “Today Uruguay has very good connectivity with the Lima hub, with the Panama hub, it has direct flights to the United States, it has direct flights to Europe. This allows us to continue working on increasing the number of visitors. Today tourism in Uruguay is a first-class economic activity, there are almost 100.000 jobs, 7,5% of the gross domestic product, 8% of the active workforce. It really is an activity that distributes and generates a lot of work, therefore it is very important for our country.”
The destinations hidden behind Punta del Este
Lavalleja, Rocha, Treinta y Tres, Cerro Largo and Maldonado (where Punta del Este is located) are the departments that make up the eastern region. InfoNegocios had the opportunity to see some of the picturesque landscapes that inhabit Uruguay and to participate in a press conference with authorities from the departments.
On that occasion, Adriana Peña, mayor of Lavalleja (future candidate for vice president of Uruguay, according to reports) spoke about the work they are carrying out to promote new destinations, taking advantage of the global visibility that Punta del Este has, and made a very interesting comment: “not many people know Uruguay, but they know Punta del Este, although many think that Punta del Este is in Argentina.”
Source: infonegocios.info
