After two summer seasons affected by the pandemic, the current one aroused many expectations among Uruguayan tour operators. In order to have a balance of what the summer has been like in the East so far, Coffee & Business spoke with references in the area.
Lin the first half of January, it even exceeded the expectations of the operators. According to the president of the Piriápolis Real Estate Center, Roberto Goio, in this region —which also includes the nearby spas from Solís to Punta Negra—, there was 80% occupancy, approximately: “It did not reach 100% in properties, perhaps in hotels it did,” he explained.
For his part, the president of the Punta del Este Real Estate Chamber, Javier Sena, said that the first days of the year —and even the last days of December—, In this city, occupancy was “very good”, with 100% of the owners using their residences, and 90% of the rental establishments occupied.
Regarding the places with the highest number of occupations, Sena said that the José Ignacio lighthouse, La Barra, Manantiales, the first line of La Mansa and La Brava and Portezuelo were practically at 100%. Meanwhile, the second and third lines of La Mansa and La Brava were “where there was a lack of people who came to rent, which was the Argentine middle class,” he added.
Along the same lines, the president of the Rochense Tourism Corporation, Delvair Amarilla. As he said in dialogue with Coffee & Business, in that departmenthe first ten days of January were also very good. “They were good days, in which Rocha was, in some micro-destinations, at 100% and, in others that were not reached, it was at 80%-90% occupancy,” he said.
However, From January 15 to the end of the month, tourism in the East fell to a range between 60%-70%. Most of the tourists opted to go out between Thursday or Friday, and even on Sundays.
“From the evaluation of January, what I can tell you is that it was not bad, and it was not excellent. It was a breather that we had, and a positive season at the beginning of the season,” said Amarilla.
What is the expectation for February? According to Goio, a “sensible drop” is expected, compared to the occupation of the strong days of January, of approximately 50%.
As the president of the Piriápolis Real Estate Center explained, what is happening this month is that, although there are still people looking to rent fortnightly, there are fewer and fewer. In February tourists prefer weekly rentals or even less than a week: “There are many requests of this type, which real estate agencies try to avoid, unless we have a space left in a property,” he said.
“Many owners do not want to because it is a very short entry and exit movement and it does not leave them significant money either because, for that, they would have to charge a number that people are not going to pay. The issue of short time becomes a bit tedious on a property”he added.
In any case, Goio maintained that on weekends “a lot of people get together”who usually stays in a hotel or complex.
Along the same lines, Sena said that on weekends it “lifts a lot”, because a lot of people come from different departments of Uruguay, but also from other countries. “Foreign owners who come on weekends, both by land and by boat and plane,” he said.
Compared to the last summer before the pandemic, Sena expressed that this year it is a little below but that it is still an average occupation.
Photo: Federico Gutierrez.
east point
On the contrary, Amarilla affirmed that the first 15 days of February are being very weak, and that in this monthhe reserves are almost all concentrated for Carnival.
The phenomenon of Carnival
The three operators agreed that —after spending the first half of January—, tourism will pick up in Carnival.
Sena stated that, in addition to the traditional four days, this date has an impact on the entire second half of February: “At least all the owners will come. The number of those who come to rent will surely be below the second half of January, but it will also be a high occupation because there are many requests that are becoming people who are going to rent for a week or ten days. “he explained. In any case, he maintained that the maximum occupation in this new fortnight will take place during the Carnival holidays, and the weekend that precedes them.
“It’s like a slide: you reached the top of the slide at parties, and it lasts for a period like until January 15, then it starts to go down considerably. It goes up again at carnival”exemplified Goio, to refer to the occupation during the season.
Marcelo Umpierrez
piriapolis
The balance so far
Asked about the balance of the season up to now, Goio said that it has been fruitful compared to the pandemic years, in which “there was practically no movement.” By the way, he said: “We can’t say it was a bad season, but we can’t say it was an excellent one either. It was a middle ground.” And he stressed that contrary to what was expected, there was a good influx of Argentine public.
In addition, the president of the Piriápolis Real Estate Center pointed out that the fact that there are a lot of people does not mean that the numbers of the different businesses turn out well, because “There may be a lot of people but consumption is less than the number of people there are.” That will be evaluated once after February.
Sena indicated that in Punta del Este, people were able to enjoy what they consider to be a good first month of summer: “The people who wanted to come to sunbathe and rest could,” he said.
He also stressed that during the last days of December, and the first days of January there was a level of occupancy higher than expected.
Marcelo Umpierrez
Dove
By way of conclusion, and with an eye on the general balance of this new summer season, the president of the Rochense Tourism Corporation, stated: “What is going to be done at the end of the season is to evaluate the issue of income, how the operators ended their businesses profitably.”
