Probably the biggest of those is coming up in a couple of weeks and centers around semana santa — or holy week. While Uruguayans aren’t especially “holy”, hey, it’s an excuse to go on vacation, right? And, basically, any excuse to go on vacation is a good one as far as the Uruguayans are concerned.

Travel and tourism in Uruguay is important to the local economy, and Uruguay has the equivalent of a Tourism Secretary. Tourism bureau president Luis Borsari said that along with domestic travel by Uruguayans, foreign visitors and tourist travel this semana santa looks to be strong again despite the economic difficulties being felt this year in most countries.

Bookings and reservations for lodging and rooms looks strong. Borsari feels that this year will be similar to last year where a healthy number of foreign tourists came to Uruguay, however, their overall spending per visitor was down.

The Uruguay Tourism Chamber president further added that domestic tourism is on the rise. And, many locals tend to use the week of semana santa to investigate the interior of the country. Travel around the more traditional tourism hotspots of Punta del Este and Colonia del Sacremento is the focus of more foreigners, and Uruguay travel from foreign tourists is likely be be strongest between Monday and Thursday of the Holy Week Holiday.