Congress Tourism Rose 32.8 percent in Uruguay

Congress, seminar and meeting tourism in Uruguay was up a whopping 32.8 percent in 2003 from the year before, the Uruguayan Association of Congress and Related Event Organizers (AUDOCA) reported.

During the course of last year, Uruguay played host to 470 events, including 179 of international scope. Each attendant to those congresses averaged $1,400 worth of revenues for the country’s coffers.

Around 81 percent of those conclaves took place in Montevideo, little more than 9 percent in Punta del Este, and the remaining 10 percent in other cities around the nation.

Back in 1998, the number of events held in Uruguay –including congresses, seminars, meetings, expositions and symposiums- reached 200 in all.

Uruguay provides tax-exempt policies for events held in hotels, a condition that gives the country a competitive edge over other countries in the region.

Moreover, Uruguay is outfitted with great infrastructure to organize meetings of up to 3,500 participants.