South America tourism: record season in Punta del Este, Uruguay

Punta del Este is one of Uruguay’s most popular holiday destinations and is located on the southern Atlantic coast in front of the provincial capital, Maldonado. 

The place is known as a seaside resort all over the world, most foreign tourists come from Argentina, Brazil and Chile. 

Uruguay’s epicenter of summer social activities kicked off the summer season with a record number of private flights and a 100% occupancy of its 520-berth marina. 

The deputy tourism minister of South America’s smallest Spanish-speaking country, Remo Monzeglio, stressed on Monday (2nd) that 2023 had “the best start to the season” that he can remember.

In this regard, he explained that more than 200 private planes have already arrived at Laguna del Sauce International Airport, located a few kilometers from Punta del Este, adding that commercial flights arriving in the country are full. On the other hand, he pointed out that in addition to the 520 yachts in the port, another 50 are on the waiting list.

Monzeglio also underlined that the hotel industry in Punta del Este currently has an occupancy rate of 100%, noting that, looking ahead to the season, more than 150 restaurants have opened, a number that exceeds the almost 100 that have been closed due to the COVID -19 pandemic. 

Between December 22 and January 1,276,514 tourists entered Uruguay. Of these, 38.03% are Argentinians, 37.32% returnees from Uruguay, 12.85% Brazilians and 2.40% Americans. “There was one Brazilian for every three Argentine tourists, while the traditional ratio is four or five Argentines to one Brazilian,” said the Deputy Minister.

Most of them came through the main land border crossings between Uruguay and Argentina, while 25,286 people entered on commercial flights through Carrasco International Airport on the outskirts of Montevideo. 

Although Monzeglio pointed out that transit in the country is fluid at the moment, he pointed out that some people traveling with their private vehicles had not completed the mandatory “tourist pass” procedure, causing problems for them, to pass the national roads tolls.