The Tourism Commission of the Chamber of Deputies met this Wednesday 9 in Parliament, and received the Minister of Tourism, Tabaré Viera, who appeared before said space to make a presentation and provide information about the so-called Cannabis Tourism.
Once his appearance was over, the Secretary of State gave a press conference and responded to queries related to various issues related to his portfolio.
Regarding the possibility of paying tolls with a credit card, the chief replied that “it is an issue that has worried us. We have been talking about the issue with the Minister of Transport, José Luis Falero. We have a meeting scheduled for the next few days with the road corporation. Make it easier for tourists to enter and exit, circulation in the country. It is an objective, and we also agree. Let’s see how we implement it. Let’s see if we give it as a gift, as one more benefit”.
He added that this measure seeks to speed up waiting times, since “sometimes when a foreigner enters the country, they arrive without money without cash, and having to carry out procedures that are not clear to them. The idea is precisely to see how we can make life easier for tourists, how they can do their paperwork at the border, and that they already have the warning and the solution”. He also said that this could be solved in the coming weeks.
Regarding cannabis tourism, Viera pointed out that he attended the commission to offer his opinion and also provide information on the bill on the subject. “We understand that it should not be a tourist product. I think that would have more inconveniences than help, we cannot assimilate what is gastronomic tourism or coastal tourism (…), what if we understand that it is convenient is to enable visitors, tourists to have the same rights as a Uruguayan, and if there is a regulation that enables Uruguayans to acquire or consume a substance such as cannabis, it should also be enabled for those who visit us”.
The hierarch said that a “temporary authorization” will be sought that allows them to buy and consume the same as the citizens of the country. For his part, the proposal of the mayor of Canelones, Yamandú Orsi, about an emergency fund for tourism, commented on that “it is a recurring theme that was in force at the time of greatest problems for the sector, which was during the pandemic. The government, in a way, was what it did not give. Not a fund called a fund, but through the Covid-19 Fund, important contributions were made for the sector.”
Viera recalled that the tourism sector had access to unsecured loans, access to flexible unemployment insurance and special unemployment insurance, some of which have been extended and also had benefits of exemption from tax contributions or postponement of the same. . “Today we have shown, in the talk, as quarter after quarter compared to the year 2019, the sector has been emerging and the trend is to continue growing. There are even significant investments in the sector and the number of workers on unemployment insurance has dropped considerably. All of that shows a recovery. We believe that everything will normalize a little more by the year 2023.”
Tourism in Argentina: 93 thousand Uruguayans traveled in October
the month of october marked a “strong recovery” in terms of receptive tourism in the Argentine Republic, with the entry into the country of 410,000 foreign visitors, most of them Uruguayans, which represents an increase of 76% compared to the same month of 2019 and brings the numbers closer to pre-pandemic levels, the neighboring Ministry of Tourism and Sports reported on Wednesday. country. In addition, the spending of foreign tourists has already reached the numbers for that year. So far in 2022, the ranking of the number of tourists is headed by Brazil (22.2% of the total), followed by Uruguay, Chile, and Paraguay. “The challenge of the moment is to quickly reach pre-pandemic levels of international tourism and we are very close to achieving it,” said Minister Matías Lammens. In absolute terms, last month was the largest in number of tourists and recovery compared to the pre-pandemic so far in 2022 with the entry of 410,000 tourists. In that sense, in October “324.1 million dollars entered, which represented a recovery of 94% compared to the same period of 2019”, while so far this year, “the accumulated expenditure by foreign tourists is of 2,519 million dollars. In the annual accumulation of the number of tourists per international access passage, it is observed that the two main steps are the Ezeiza airport and the Jorge Newbery airport, with 24% and 16%, respectively, followed by the Port of Buenos Aires (with 12%); the Trancredo Neves International Bridge and the Gualeguaychú-Fray Bentos Pass, both with 8%. In the country breakdown, Uruguay occupies the first place in terms of the emission of tourists to Argentina in October, with 93,000 visitors, which meant a growth of 130% compared to the same period of the pre-pandemic, and thus marks the sixth consecutive month with figures higher than 2019.
Cikurel obtained provisional dismissal
The Uruguayan accountant Maya Cikurel obtained a provisional dismissal from the Panamanian Justice for money laundering in the framework of the Odebrecht case. The Justice of that country established that Cikurel’s link with the crimes attributed to him was not proven.
