Punta del Este was crowded with tourists during the first week of 2023. The beaches, streets and shops registered a large movement of tourists. Coffee & Business toured the stores of Gorlerothe main avenue of Uruguay’s flagship resort to find out the consumption behavior they were registering.
The manager of the Paseo de las Marías bookstore, Silvana, arranged the books in two gondolas that were on the sidewalk. According to the employee, this season began with more sales compared to last summer. “We are 20% higher than the first days of 2022 in sales”, he detailed and added that “fiction books are preferred by tourists”.
Photo: Federico Gutierrez.
Tourists view garments during the beginning of the 2023 summer season
The Maré clothing store opened its doors on Avenida Gorlero in November 2021: “That was a quiet season” for the business in terms of sales, said one of the owners of the store while attending the store. The businesswoman also said that the marketing of the garments began to gain momentum after the Punta Shopping fire on Saturday, August 6. During the first week of 2023, billing was “between double and triple” compared to the first week of 2022. The merchant was satisfied with the demand and highlighted the spending of Paraguayan and Chilean companies in particular. Bikinis, linen garments and ponchos —which have been becoming the flagship garment of this summer— are the products with the highest placement, the businesswoman pointed out.
Photo: Federico Gutierrez.
According to merchants, the drop in consumption by Argentine tourists is noticeable
In the gastronomic area, they also recognized the increase in consumption in the first days of the New Year. On the one hand, the manager of the Blas Beach restaurant, located at the corner of Gorlero and Calle 30 or Las Focas, told Coffee & Business that the increase in consumption during midday and, above all, at dinner was notorious. “We are recording 40% more sales than last season” during these days, said Belén, while coordinating the tasks of the restaurant. And he added: “A year ago they closed at midnight and now there is movement until 3 am.” The worker also stated that the “Argentine tourist is calmer when it comes to spending, but there are many Paraguayans and Chileans” they are consuming a lot. He also talked about the increasing diversity in terms of the origin of the tourists who come to Punta del Este.
On the other hand, from the fast food outlet Fábrica de Pizzas they were more cautious when talking about consumption. Although they indicated that they are registering more sales than at the beginning of the summer of 2022They explained that they observe “more volume of people, but with less purchasing power” than in other seasons.
Photo: Federico Gutierrez.
Gorlero Avenue Commerce
The tour culminated in the toy store of the premises that are under the umbrella of the Stickers brand. The place is spacious and covers several items, the toy store is one of the most outstanding. “This is being a very good season,” said one of the local vendors. “We must wait to pass the great acid test, which is February,” she added.
The employee also highlighted the great diversity of nationalities of the tourists who come to the store, and stressed that, in a single purchase, there are consumers who spend $60,000 on toys. “Above all the grandparents who come with their grandchildren are the ones who consume the most,” he said.
“There are many Europeans who are arriving; Argentinians are not spending too much”, added the worker, who also spoke of the “large number of Uruguayans” who visit the Gorlero stores, during the start of the 2023 season.
Entry of tourists during the first days
From December 22 to 30, 2022, 245,675 passengers entered the country to spend the summer in Uruguayaccording to the latest report prepared by the Department of Statistics of the National Directorate of Migration.
“Tourists who entered on those dates are those who are present in the country during this weekend in which the new year began; and it is for this reason that excellent demand is being registered in the hotel industry and in that of temporary rentals”, pointed out the Vice Minister of Tourism, Remo Monzeglio, in dialogue with Coffee & Business the first day of January. The hierarch also said that during the first days of 2023 Punta del Este registered practically one hundred percent hotel occupancy.
Photo: Federico Gutierrez.
Punta del Este, season 2023
Of the total number of passengers who entered on that date, 93,634 come from Argentina (38.11%). In addition, 91,104 are Uruguayans who entered the country, which, although it was in second place, had a behavior very similar to that of Argentine tourists (37.08%).
Brazilian tourists were in third place: 32,299 people from that country who chose Uruguay to vacation (13.15%). Likewise, 5,971 tourists (2.43%) arrived from the United States and this origin was in fourth place. They were followed by Paraguay with 4,249 tourists (1.73%); Chile with 1,723 (0.70%); Spain with 1,636 (0.67%); Italy with 1,233 (0.50%); Germany with 697 (0.28%); 13,129 passengers (5.34%) arrived from other origins in the last days of last year.
