Unified protocol targets measures to support the hotel sector including the concession for two casinos to attract foreign capital
The working group to reactivate the Uruguayan tourist activity met to advance in the elaboration of the reopening protocol of some areas of the sector, which will include the hygienic provisions for hotels and gastronomic establishments.
As informed by the Uruguayan Minister of Tourism, Germán Cardoso, there are three defined stages: domestic tourism, investments and stability in the region to project the different stages of the summer.
The group is made up of representatives of the Uruguayan Chamber of Tourism and its main associations, the delegate of the Ministry of Public Health, specialized in medicine and labor relations, also participates. Cardoso emphasized that the objective is to create an outline of the action protocol, which, once prepared, will be submitted to the President of the Republic.
The determination of action protocols requires interaction and coordinated work with the National Council of Intendents, for the control that departmental administrations must carry out, and with the Planning and Budget Portfolio, for its application and control, explained the minister and reaffirmed the definition of the three tactical stages: domestic tourism, investment tourism, mainly foreign, and the stability of the region that allows to project the summer stages. "We are assessing the situation weekly," said Cardoso.
All protocols for the start of the activity must be unified and according to certain aspects, such as the separation of tables in restaurants or the maximum occupations of hotels that must not exceed a certain number.
In the Rocha and Canelones tourist projects, the deputy minister, Remo Monzeglio, emphasized that two working groups were created. "The expressions of interest were varied and, above all, from foreign groups that started to contact each other. One of the projects deals with the granting of two licenses to private casinos that moved the interest of groups in Argentina and the United States, among other countries" he explained.
Monzeglio, says that they are working on reactivating Uruguay's air connectivity, thinking about the post-pandemic, so that the trips continue with the guarantees of hygiene and health. There is still no exact date for the reactivation of the sector, since it will depend on the measures that are defined in the rest of the countries in the region and extra regional tourism, with regard to the reactivation of airlines.
The two authorities agree when they affirm that tourist activities affect 8% of the economy in the country and cover 11% of the Uruguayan active population, which is an extremely relevant sector for the Uruguayan economy.