Facing a new summer season –which begins on December 1st and lasts until March–, the resorts are preparing to receive national and international tourists who choose to vacation on the Uruguayan coast. And after two summers with restrictions that prevented the normal development of the activity, they expect a recovery season in the summer of 2022/2023.
However – according to a report published by the real estate portal Info Casas – the actors in the sector are going to face new challenges, most of them related to the economic crises that some countries in the region are going through.
The clearest example is Argentina, the main supplier of tourists to Uruguay. The unfavorable exchange rate for the neighboring country’s currency is a factor that conditions the arrival of Argentines to Uruguayan territory. So –although there is a niche of Argentines who will continue vacationing in Punta del Este–, there are people who surely visited the country in other summer seasons and who this year will not be able to do so or will be more cautious in their tourism expenses.
Taking this reality into account –and in an effort to counteract the loss of Argentine tourists– the Ministry of Tourism is carrying out a strong campaign in Brazil, with the aim of attracting a greater number of tourists from this country.
The perspectives
Despite the efforts of the players in the sector, searches for places to rent during summer days reflect a downward trend compared to the same period – August, September – of 2021, according to data from the Mercado Libre platform. Searches for places to rent during summer days show a downward trend compared to the same period of the previous year. This can be linked to several factors, although the company highlights the incidence of rising costs that made a dent in the pockets of tenants.
Unlike Mercado Libre –and according to the data obtained by the Casas en el Este portal–, the number of user queries showed a slight growth (8%) compared to the same period of the previous year. That is why from this company they expect a good level of occupation for the first days of January; hovering around 90%. However, they expect the type of stay to be shorter – around 10 days – basically due to the situation of the Argentine public, which continues to represent a large part of the demand for Uruguayan spas.
Portal inquiries come from Uruguay (54%), Argentina (31%), Brazil (10%), Chile (2%) and other countries (3%).
favorite destinations
Both platforms have the largest number of queries in establishments of the same destinations: Canelones, Maldonado and Rocha.
On the Mercado Libre website, Punta del Este leads the ranking as the most sought-after destination. They are followed by Piriápolis, Atlántida and La Paloma. In Casas del Este, the average searches in the resorts in trend are: Punta del Este (42%), Piriápolis (18%) and La Paloma/La Pedrera (16%).
According to the real estate portal report, the average price per day of stay in these destinations is between US$110 and US$200. Punta del Este (US$200), Piriápolis (US$150), Atlántida (US$110) and –in this case instead of La Paloma–, La Pedrera (US$190).
Characteristics of the places
Mercado Libre highlighted that when it comes to renting, houses are more sought after than apartments. In terms of the number of bedrooms, it is estimated that those looking for houses request three or four, and those looking for apartments are inclined towards one or two rooms.
