The Municipality of Salto will leave in private hands the administration of the Hotel Municipal Arapeyas well as the construction of a new water park in the property of the Termas del Arapey.
The hotel was open until the pandemicwhen it closed due to the arrest of the tourist activities.
When tourism was reactivated, the hotel did not reopen its doors since the departmental government understood that For it to be competitive with the five-star hotels in the area, it needed a large investment that “at that time we could not do,” he explained to Coffee & Business Soledad Marazzano, General Director of Promotion and Development of the Salta Municipality.
The hotel dates from the 80s, it has 54 rooms and swimming pools with thermal waters for the exclusive use of the guests of the place.
they fix the way
The Arapey thermal zone is 80 km from the city of Salto and has a 19 km road between Route 3 and the thermal center. Now the road is under repair, since for many years it was in poor condition, said Flavia Lavecchia, president of the Tourism Commission of the Salto Commercial and Industrial Center.
In this area, the accommodation offer is made up of several private hotels, including five stars, bungalows and a campsite, the latter two being municipal.
“The mayor, seeing that it is not being able to maintain the infrastructure (of the municipal hotel), the best thing it can do is just that, that it be tendered and the hotel become operational, because would give a lot of labor and sources of work”, he stressed, adding: “it would be wonderful to reopen the hotel”.
In addition to the accommodation, the area is home to the municipal thermal park. Before arriving in the area, an entrance fee must be paid that has generated controversy, Lavecchia commented, since, although it is what allows entry to the thermal park, those who stay in high-end hotels do not usually use that park and still so they must pay the income.
Plans for 2024
The hotel, as well as the space where the water park is planned to be built, is owned by the municipality. The idea is that private investors capitalize on the necessary reforms and take charge of the administration of both spaces. As Marazzano commented, there are already interested private actorsboth Uruguayans and foreigners.
It is planned to present the public tender this year, so that the hotel will be operating in 2024, he assured.
The administration is studying the possibility of presenting the tender documents in Termatalia, an international congress of thermal tourism that will be held between October 4 and 6 in Salto and Paysandú, although they do not rule out that the presentation will be made before. “We see Termatalia as a good moment because we expect visitors from other parts of the world who may be interested,” he said.
As he commented, the requirements that private parties must meet to access the hotel administration are still being defined.
