Uruguay received 1.5 million international tourists in the first quarter of 2018, which represents a 10.2% more than the figures of tourist arrivals for the same period of last year, and the best historical data for the Latin American country.
The tourist expenditure in the country registered more than 1,000 million dollars from January to March (about 807 million euros). This means that the expenditure has grown at a lower rate than the tourist arrivals, and has barely experienced an increase of 1.1% in comparison to the first quarter of 2017.
Specifically, the average expenditure per person was $713.5, an 8.3% less than during the same period of the previous year. As a result, the cost per day also decreased to $104.1 (-4%).
In the rank by countries, Uruguay's destinations continue to see the largest number of tourist arrivals. The vast majority of tourists were Argentines, with 1.1 million and a growth of 10.9% over the previous year. In second place, but much behind, are the Brazilians, with 137,137 tourists. In the third place, there were the Paraguayans, who only added 10,779 visitors and represent a decrease of 31%.
Punta del Este was the most visited destination, with 385,359 tourists compared to the 361.958 that arrived from January to March of 2017. Montevideo was ranked in the second place, with 249,482 visitors. Thermal Coast (161,237), the Coast of Rocha (160,192), Piriápolis (145,755), Costa de Oro (135,826) and Colonia del Sacramento (91,131) were the other main destinations.