Cruise Vessel Calls Up 9.3 Percent so far this Season in Uruguay

The number of cruise-vessel calls in Uruguayan ports has increased 9.3% so far in this 2012/13 season with an influx of 20 million dollars for the local economy revealed Deputy minister of Tourism Antonio Carambula during a primary evaluation of business vis-à-vis the 2011/12 results.

Deputy Tourism minister Carambula said Costa Cruises will use Uruguay as a passengers’ transfer point Deputy Tourism minister Carambula said Costa Cruises will use Uruguay as a passengers’ transfer point

Carambula also revealed that during the recent world cruise industry Seatrade 2013 conference in Miami, the heads of the cruise companies, many of them operating in Punta del Este and Montevideo expressed the satisfaction of the visitors landing in Uruguay.

The Deputy Tourism minister was in Miami with a numerous delegation which also included the Minister of Public Works and Transport and the head of the Tourism office from Maldonado (Punta del Este).

For the next season (2013/14) the cruise companies that operate in Uruguay have plans to keep the number of vessel calls, “so we can expect a similar number of visitors to the current season”.

Finally the tourism deputy minister said that some cruise companies are considering calling in Colonia, at the mouth of the rivers Parana and Uruguay, a colonial city founded in 1680 by the Portuguese half an hour away from Buenos Aires. However because of draft limitations it would only be possible for the smaller cruise vessels.