Arrival of Argentine and Brazilian tourists anticipates a successful summer season. The long weekend filled Punta del Este with tourists and visitors, which was reflected in an 80% hotel occupancy rate, according to information provided to El País by the Hotels and Restaurants Centre of the main resort.
Monday's holiday, which coincided with Argentina, brought in many tourists from the neighboring country, in addition to the five Aerolíneas Argentinas flights that were scheduled to arrive in the last three days and did not arrive due to a strike by aeronautical unions. The resort also received many Brazilians and Montevideo residents.
The mayor of Punta del Este, Andrés Jafif, asserted that there is currently "stability" in terms of tourist arrivals from neighboring countries. "We come from a market where Argentina was doing well and Brazil was doing poorly, or Brazil was doing well and Argentina was doing poorly. Today, we're seeing a recovery in Brazil, which is helping us achieve better tourism. Chilean tourism is becoming more noticeable in Punta del Este, and Paraguayan tourism is now fully integrated," he opined.
The tourist movement in Uruguay was echoed in the press on the neighboring shore. According to the newspaper La Nación, many excursions arrived from Brazil on Saturday. This was evident at the "Los Dedos" monument at stop 1 on Brava Beach, where many Brazilians paraded to take a souvenir photo.
As the sun set on Friday and Saturday, traffic to the port slowed down, similar to what happens in January. Restaurants in the area competed with promotions for tourists, with discounts for those who paid with credit cards and a discounted rate for those who paid with cash in dollars.
Fairs and music.
Jafif added that the good weather was a factor in achieving this high occupancy rate. With temperatures reaching over 25 degrees, hundreds of people could be seen descending to the beaches of La Mansa or La Brava.
Punta Weekend, a three-day festival that began on Friday and ended on Sunday, attracted a large young audience. "Toco para Vos" and "El Polaco" added value to a party that has established itself as a popular event for this time of year since 2008.
Enjoy Casino (formerly Conrad) hosted the first food fair organized by the Uruguayan Food Truck Association, which offered a variety of foods and was attended by more than 3.000 people, Jafif noted. At night, this same hotel held the "Oktober Fest" on Saturday and Sunday, with tastings of dozens of beers of different types and origins.
Future.
With this level of activity, the outlook for rentals of houses and apartments for the summer in Punta del Este is very promising.
La Nación reported that the level of reservations for the end of the year and the beginning of January is already "very high," according to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Tourism released last Saturday.
The market started early in August and September. Most of these interested parties are people who are repeating last year's rental.
However, Jafif detected behavior among homeowners that isn't good for the resort. "Some people say that because the season is so good, prices are going up. Speculating on rentals is counterproductive," he said.
More than 100 thousand people passed through Tres Cruces.
Passenger traffic through Tres Cruces during this long weekend was very similar to last year. More than 100.000 people passed through the bus terminal during these three days, according to preliminary data.
Osvaldo Torres, head of the Control Tower, told El País that the most popular places in Maldonado such as Punta del Este, Piriápolis and the resorts of Rocha, especially La Paloma, were the most in demand, as was Buenos Aires. Several Buquebús buses arrived and departed to and from the Argentine capital.
"This movement was expected to be significant, as is the case every October 12th, when the holiday is postponed to favor the long weekend," Torres said. The bus station spokesperson indicated that expectations for next summer will be met. "We're looking forward to a very good season, which will be as good as last year's, which is already a lot," he declared.
Source: elpais.com.uy
