The National Port Administration will apply a 20% reduction in passenger fares from October, as an incentive for shipping companies.
The government aims to continue positioning Uruguay as a destination of the cruise tourisma sector that meant significant income during 2023; and for this, the National Port Administration (ANP) announced that it will apply a 20% tariff reduction to shipping companies that arrive at the country’s ports.
The cruise ships and ships arriving at national port terminals are increasingly important for the tourism sector, Therefore, from the government and, particularly, the Ministry of Tourismare working on different measures to further encourage this type of visit to the country. In this sense, the main challenge is to increase the number of boats and cruise passengers arriving from rivers and sea; by increasing the possibility of stopping and staying overnight in each of the cities, as well as improving the quality of the services offered.
Regarding this, the Minister of Tourism Eduardo Sanguinetti considered as a possible alternative the construction of new docking points in Maldonado, a project that is analyzed in conjunction with the Ministry of Environmentthe National Naval Prefecture and the ANP. “These solutions are essential for the growth of the sector,” said the leader, in the framework of the opening of the X Regional Meeting of Cruises and Nautical Tourismin East Point.
In the same line of promotion to cruise tourismthe president of the ANP, Juan Curbelo, He said that the agency will begin to apply a 20% reduction in port fees for shipping companies arriving at national terminals from October – when the 2024-2025 season begins. “It is a great effort that the agency is making,” he said in this regard.
“It is a 20% reduction in the passenger fare, so it will have a significant impact on ships coming to the Port of Montevideo like the one in Punta del Este. It goes along the lines of a regional positioning that the different countries are trying to maintain and increase,” Curbelo explained in greater detail.
The numbers from last season
At the opening of the X Regional Meeting of Cruises and Nautical Tourism The numbers from the last one were also presented cruise season, which ran from October 2023 to April 2024. It was highlighted that 187 ships arrived at the ports of Montevideo and Maldonado, which meant a total of 324,000 tourists and an income of 17 million dollars.
“These are very good numbers,” said Minister Sanguinetti, who also highlighted the importance of the sector-specific meetings, in which national and international authorities and operators interact on common challenges. “We are betting on the design and development of strategies that promote effective, sustainable and sustainable growth,” he said at a press conference.
Source: Ambito
