During the first half of 2016, more than 1.600.000 tourists entered the country, the highest figure of the century, according to the August report by the Center for Economic Research (Cinve). The Cinve report adds that the entry of foreign tourists during the 2015-2016 summer season increased 12,7% year-on-year and 23,9% compared to the same period in 2013-2014.
It also indicates that tourism growth in Uruguay in 2015 was 8,5%, exceeding the average for South American countries, which was 5%, according to the annual report of the World Tourism Organization.
The increase in domestic tourism was due to the growth in the arrival of Argentine tourists, between 65% and 75% of the total number of people entering the country. Between December 2015 and June 2016, nearly 1.300.000 Argentines arrived, an increase of 22% compared to the same period of the previous year.
Meanwhile, tourist arrivals from Brazil fell 16,3% in the first half of the year, from 224.000 to approximately 188.000, according to the report.
As for tourist spending, in the first half of the year it was around 1.035 billion dollars, 7,9% less than in the previous year. However, taking into account a 22% increase in the nominal exchange rate of the dollar between the first half of 2015 and 2016, “spending in current Uruguayan pesos increased by almost 14,8%,” the text indicates. If the corresponding inflation is also taken into account, the real increase in spending was 4% at constant pesos.
American tourists spent 43% more than the previous year in the first quarter, a figure that had a very strong impact on the country as a whole.
Full Cinve report:
http://www.cinve.org.uy/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/AC-2016-082.pdf
