RIYADH: Uruguay believes Expo 2030 and upcoming FIFA world cups are the perfect opportunities to increase tourism with the Middle East, a senior minister told Arab News.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 26th UN Tourism General Assembly, the country’s Minister of Tourism Pablo Menoni set out how Uruguay is keen to strengthen its tourism industry and opportunities for collaboration with the Kingdom.
The South American country welcomed 3.3 million tourists in 2024, with the majority coming from Brazil, Europe, and North America.
Menoni pointed to upcoming events as chances to increase relations with and awareness of Uruguay’s tourism industry.
“The calendar is giving us a great opportunity,” he said, adding: “Let me tell you in 2030, we are celebrating the first 100 years of the first football World Cup that was held in Uruguay, that was won by Uruguay. And the kickoff of the World Cup will be held in Uruguay.
“And you have in 2030, the World Expo, and in 2034 the football World Cup. It’s a great opportunity for us, but for both of us, in order to exchange and learn from each other’s culture.”
The interview was carried out less than a month after Uruguayan Minister of Foreign Affairs Mario Lubetkin visited Riyadh to sign a memorandum of understanding that could redefine economic ties between the two nations.
Menino believes the visit of Lubetkin, as well as his own, is ushering in a new chapter in bilateral relations.
Reflecting on Saudi Arabia’s drive to develop its tourism sector, he said: “You (Saudi Arabia) are doing quite well. And in my modest opinion, it is because the minister of tourism has a plan.”
He added: “You can have the budget, you can have the opportunities to invest. But if you don’t have a plan, believe me, you are wasting your money and your time.”
Saudi Arabia has been bolstering its tourism economy primarily through governmental and private sector investment as part of its Vision 2030 initiative, which aims to grow visitor numbers to 150 million by the end of the decade.
Commenting on his own country's drive to attract more tourists, Menino said Uruguay struggles to promote some of its more hidden attractions, including gastronomy and culture, which is often overshadowed by larger neighbors such as Brazil and Argentina.
While he notes that education is one of the crucial elements to a thriving tourism economy, it is also one of their biggest challenges.
He said that there’s a struggle in “training our workers to get more professional, learn more languages, especially Portuguese, English. And we have a lot of work to do there, and to improve our gastronomy promotion. We do have very good gastronomy, but it is being (over)shadowed by Argentina and Brazil gastronomy.”
When it comes to Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions tourism, the minister shared that it’s one of their main strategies in the sector to promote the country and improve its visibility.
He said: “Not only because it is important in the amount of tourists that come to Uruguay, but because they are the greatest spenders, you know, and that is fantastic for us. But we do have many opportunities (for improvement) in MICE tourism.
“For example, if you want to hold some important events, we must improve air connectivity, not only in the region, but for instance … We only have direct flights from Uruguay to Europe to Madrid. And that’s quite little flights. So we must improve connectivity and we must improve our rooms capacity. We do not have enough hotels to hold events with more than 10,000 people.”
The General Assembly this year focused on digitization under the theme “AI-Powered Tourism: Redefining the Future,” with countries looking for ways to enhance the use of the tool within the sector.
Menino said Uruguay is using AI for “micro segmentation” when it comes to promotion.
“As you have your own possibilities that may be different than mine, we have to promote our country differently to you than you do to me,” he explained.
