Did You Know?

Did you know that Uruguay has a Visit USA Committee?  

The Visit USA Committee Uruguay consolidates results and expands actions of promotion and communication of the United States.

Just like in other countries, Uruguay’s Visit USA is a non-profit organization whose main objective is to promote and increase tourism to the United States. Currently the organization consists of 14 commercial and institutional members represented by the Commercial Section of the United States Embassy, airlines, wholesalers that sell the destination, hotel chains, rent a car companies, and specialized print and television media.

There has been a 28% increase in passengers travelling from Uruguay to the United States; it is estimated that 36,690 people traveled from Uruguay to the United States in 2009, compared to 46,695 in 2011. The Visit USA Committee also aims to continue growing in 2012 and plans to carry out different activities to promote the destination with the Uruguayan travel market.

The Committee is coordinating a series of training seminars that will introduce U.S. destinations such as Miami, New York, California, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii; all are destinations with which they are already coordinating dates for their presentations in Uruguay.

Since Visit USA Uruguay is made up by major Uruguayan tourism wholesalers and the most important air carriers, as well as the efforts of a coordinated and dynamic business team, the Committee was able to advance in a short time, thus their current challenge is to maintain this momentum.

The Uruguayan Committee participated for the first time in the meeting of Latin American Visit USA Committee which took place during Pow Wow 2012 in the city of Los Angeles between the 21st and the 25th of April.

Partners: Abtour Viajes, American Airlines, CVC Latinoamérica, Destinos Representaciones, DTV Producciones, Embajada de los Estados Unidos de América, Hertz, LAN, Liberty, Mundo Turístico, Radisson, Planet Travel, Ronay, TopTour.

Did you Know that the Embassy’s Consular Section currently approves about 95% of their applicants?

The 5% refusal rate includes those who need to take additional documentation or other information and then receive their visa in a subsequent interview. These rates and low consular wait times merit that U.S. tour operators pay greater attention to Uruguayan current and potential travelers.

Did you know that Uruguayan travel to the United States picked up in 2005 and continues to increase every year?

With its small population of 3.3 million, Uruguay goes unnoticed in U.S. statistics highlighting overseas arrivals. Uruguayan travelers appear to be combining business and leisure when traveling to the United States. There has been a noticeable increase in Uruguayan participation at trade fairs and exhibits, with travelers taking advantage of their business trips to visit nearby cities or tourist attractions as well as to go shopping.  The major destinations are Miami, Orlando, New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas.

International Arrivals to the United States from Uruguay

  • 2005: 29,741
  • 2006: 30,329
  • 2007: 32,804
  • 2008: 33,550
  • 2009: 36,690
  • 2010: 41,980
  • 2011: 46,600

Source: http://www.tinet.ita.doc.gov/