Uruguay: A Case Study in Tourism Growth

More Americans, Brazilians & Europeans are discovering unique hotels like the Estancia Vik Jose Ignacio.

When MBA students analyze case studies, they are typically dissecting contributing factors surrounding a major success story or a tremendous failure in the world of business. So when professors at Madrid’s IE Business School (IEBS) decided to prepare a case study on Uruguay tourism over the past decade, many wondered what the outcome would be.

Fortunately for Uruguay, writes El Pais’ Jorge Rebella, the results were nothing short of amazing. The case study, Uruguay: The Differentiation of an Emerging Tourism Destination, analyzes Uruguay tourism data from 2000 to 2009, examines tourist arrivals by nationality and breaks out average expenditures per visitor.

From 2000 to 2009, Uruguay tourism revenue rose 51% in constant US dollars. The numbers are impressive when you consider world tourism revenue fell on average 9.5% during a brutal 2009, yet continued surging another 25% in Uruguay. Tourism, which accounted for 3.5% of Uruguay GDP in 2005, had risen to 4.2% in 2010 which is second only to beef exports in terms of generating revenue for this country of 3.4 million.

Of the 2.1 million international visitors that traveled to Uruguay in 2009, the breakdown by nationality was as follows: Argentines (55%), Uruguayans living abroad (14%), Brazilians (13%), Europeans (7%) and Americans (4%). In terms of average expenditures, the study found Americans spend the most in Uruguay (US$1,146) followed by Paraguayans (US$1,108) and Europeans (US$975).

One of the key takeaways from the study is Uruguay’s waning dependence on Argentine tourism dollars thanks to the influx of tourists from other countries. In 2009, 350,000 fewer Argentines entered Uruguay (compared to 2000), while 123,000 more Brazilians, 90,000 more Americans and 55,000 more Europeans traveled to Uruguay. (Full Story in Spanish)

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