He Ministry of Tourism released the sector figures corresponding to the third quarter of the year, with good news for the activity: the 894,113 people who visited Uruguay between August and September marked the best record in comparing this time period from 2017.
The tourist situation continues to be a matter of concern among local authorities and businessmen, who see how the exchange difference with Argentina It visibly impacts the preference of Uruguayans for local destinations for their trips and vacations. However, the third quarter showed that Uruguay It continues to be chosen by visitors from other countries, to the point of achieving numbers that have not been seen since 2017 for this part of the year.
In that sense, according to data from the Ministry of Tourismwere 894,113 people who chose the country for vacation during the last three months; The most chosen local destination was Montevideo, which received 307,323 people.
The number of brazilians that they visited Uruguay —the great bet of the tourism sector in the face of a possible drop in Argentine tourism, given the economic crisis that the neighboring country is experiencing— was also a record in six years: 150,007 in 2023 against 122,108 in 2017.
Regarding the expenditure made on incoming tourism, this was 323 million dollarsthe largest since—also—2017 (364 million dollars) and higher than that of 2018 (318 million dollars.
Comparing this third quarter with that of 2022, this year there were 35.7% more visitors in Uruguay, and spending was 9.4% higher.
The trade balance remains unbalanced
Although the incoming tourism figures were positive for a sector concerned about the impact of the regional economy, the truth is that the spending of foreigners in the country was not even enough to match the spending of Uruguayans only in Argentina during the third trimester.
Between last August and September, the Uruguayans spent 363 million dollars in Argentina, according to official figures of the Ministry of Tourism; and there were 1,052,341 people who crossed the border to the other side of the Silver river. The total expenditure on outbound tourism, meanwhile, was 562 million dollars.
Comparing the data with the same period in 2022, in 2023 there were 59.1% more Uruguayan visitors abroad —last year there were 661,591 travelers— and total spending was 46.8% higher —against 247 million dollars in 2022.
Source: Ambito
