The Observer – Montevideo
In the first quarter of the year, 1.3 million visitors arrived in Uruguay, who made a total expense of US $ 891 millionaccording to data from the Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR) published this morning.
This represented a 20% increase in the number of tourists who arrived in the country, compared to the same 2024 period when 1.1 million tourists had entered. The expenditure made by these visitors also increased 25% compared to US $ 710 million registered in the first quarter of 2024.
More Argentines and less Brazilians, in this period, as usual, the Argentine visitor led the list of nationalities that visited the country, with 974,742 tourists52% more compared to 639,968 Argentines who had arrived in the country in the same period of 2024. The expenditure of these tourists was US $ 586 million, 37% more than the US $ 427 million they had spent in the first three months of 2024.
Secondly, the Brazilian tourist was located. There were 111,988 people who arrived in Uruguay from Brazil and these tourists registered an expense of US $ 107 million. However, the number of visitors from Brazil fell 22% compared to 143,024 people who had arrived in the first quarter of 2024. Meanwhile, the expense made by these tourists remained almost unchanged, 2.8% more compared to the first quarter of the previous year when they had spent US $ 104 million.
Another trend that highlighted from the Mintur was the arrival of the European tourist, this quarter being the highest point in the last decade, With an income of 61,631 tourists, 16% more than the first quarter of 2024 when 53,017 visitors from Europe arrived.
From other countries in America, 47,497 tourists arrived, which meant a 2% decrease compared to the first quarter of the previous year.
In the case of North American tourists, the visit of 37,064 people was recorded, an year -on -year rise of 6.6%. In the ranking of nationalities it was followed by the Chilean tourist, with 27,418 registered tickets (a decrease of 2.8%) and the Paraguayans, with a total of 21,412 income (27% more than the previous year).
The amount of Uruguayans who traveled abroad fell 34%
Regarding the broadcast tourism, that is, the amount of Uruguayans who went abroad, a decrease of 34% was recorded compared to the same 2024 period, with a total of 647,426 residents who traveled out of the country.
The expenditure made by Uruguayans abroad was US $ 349 million, 27% less than the record of the previous year. As for the destinations most visited by Uruguayans, 61% went to Argentina, while 28% were decided by Brazil and 4.4% to Chile.
Therefore, in the first quarter of 2025, the balance of the tourist balance gave a positive balance of US $ 542 million.
