The 2023-2024 cruise season was launched in Montevideo

The activity was attended by the Minister of Tourism, Tabaré Viera; the Undersecretary of Tourism, Remo Monzeglio, the General Director of the Secretariat, Ignacio Curbelo, the National Director of Tourism, Roque Baudean, the president of the National Ports Administration (ANP), Juan Curbelo; the director of Tourism of the Municipality of Montevideo, Fernando Amado, as well as the captain of the Viking Jupiter, Thomas Larsen and other national and departmental authorities, press among others.

This year the chosen place was the Carnival Museum, where more than 300 tourists arrived on a special day on board the Viking Jupiter of the Viking Cruises company. This ship has capacity for 930 passengers and makes 8 calls in the port of Montevideo this season.

It should be noted that the Viking Cruises company maintained its presence in Uruguay during the Covid-19 pandemic, descending in bubbles.

In his speech, the director of Tourism of Montevideo, Fernando Amado, highlighted that the specialized cruise sector is very important for the country, since it is the engine for the employment of small and medium-sized companies, both in Montevideo and Punta del This.

Amado highlighted that “we will surely face a record season and it is a great joy to be able to face this situation, knowing that we are going to have a lot of work,” he said.

The capital leader also pointed out that this cruise season will coincide with the celebrations of the 300 years of Montevideo and in this framework “we will be able to celebrate with those who visit us, with a number of activities that are planned to take place throughout the year, so that they can enjoy the flavors, aromas, history and charm that Montevideo has,” Amado concluded.

For his part, the president of the ANP, Juan Curbelo, highlighted the growth of the cruise industry in recent years, and noted that this will be “the best season in the last nine years, with a bet of 10% growth in relation to stopovers, the passengers who are going to circulate through our port and especially through our city,” he expressed.

“We have prepared ourselves to provide the best service and so that these ships that bring thousands and thousands of passengers can have the best locations, that is, the best docks and therefore the destinations will multiply over the years. ”Curbelo highlighted.

In this sense, the port chief also maintained that this season "we will have days with four ships docked and even days with one more ship and this is because better planning is being carried out and this port organization means that we can provide better services in what has to do with the cruise industry,” he said.

“Today begins a cruise season that is going to be important for Uruguay and its economy and that is going to have a very important democratic impact on many people, who from today until mid-April are going to have a very sensible and significant economic improvement. , concluded Curbelo.

Finally, the Minister of Tourism, Tabaré Viera, referred in the first instance to the success of the last cruise season, where 187 ships arrived at our ports with 360,000 passengers, who spent more than 16 million dollars, “a very significant expense.” ”, remarked the leader.

Viera also maintained that the stay of the ships has grown and highlighted that several of them spent the night in the port of Montevideo, thanks to the development of the ports and the services provided by Uruguay, which is an “incentive” for cruise ships to seek to carry out larger scales in Uruguay and prolong them, he said.

The leader also highlighted the participation of Uruguay and the Ministry of Tourism, together with the port authorities, in specialized cruise fairs, such as Seatrade in Miami, or the Hamburg Fair, where the country was presented as a destination and was negotiated with the different companies, the arrival of more ships to the country.

Finally, Viera said that “we have the best news for a six-month cruise season, which will extend until the end of April 2024 and where we will expect 241 ships. It is a very important growth,” concluded Viera.

By 2024, the Ministry continues working on international promotion, which is why it has already confirmed its presence in the two most important fairs in the sector, such as Seatrade Cruise Global from April 12 to 14 in Miami and Seatrade Med, which will take place on September 11 and 12 in Malaga, Spain.

Uruguay participates in these fairs to promote the country and its ports, as well as increase the number of stopovers and cruise passengers, encouraging spending and investments.

Within this framework, meetings are held with the executives of the cruise companies as well as with the regional authorities to improve the southern cone cruise route proposal.

Also, 2024 will be the opportunity for Uruguay for the first time to participate in the Clia Innovation Expo (CLIA – Cruise Lines International Association) from March 12 to 14 in Italy, it is an event that combines tourist and commercial aspects, because The axis in which we will be participating is food and beverage services.

From the point of view of sustainability, they seek to “buy local” that is, they seek to supply their ships with local suppliers and characteristic products from the countries they visit.

This is an opportunity for Uruguay, in which exports can be increased by expanding supplies to cruise line ships that visit our country.

Source: Ministry of Tourism of Uruguay.