Uruguay creating new legislation to permit cruise ship casinos to remain open

A new bill has been proposed in Uruguay which would allow cruise ship casinos to keep their casinos open while in the country’s waters.

[dropcap]L[/dropcap]awmakers in Uruguay are in the process of drafting a new bill to allow visiting cruise ships to open their casinos while in Uruguayan waters, with the object of encouraging the vessels to extend their stay in the country’s ports.

The National Director of Hydrography, Carlos Camaño, reported that a bill is being prepared to allow cruise ships to keep their casino rooms open for passengers when they arrive at the ports of Montevideo and Punta del Este.

The new legislation aims to increase visitor spending while the ships are in port – at present the restrictions on casino and store opening means that the vessels only stay for a few hours in the bay of Maldonado and the Port of Montevideo.

The government hopes that the new bill will allow ships to extend their stay in Uruguay which would give passengers more time to make purchases onshore.

Statistics from the Uruguayan Ministry of Tourism indicate that during the 2015- 2016 season, 196,000 passengers and crew landed in Montevideo, spending $7.6m, while there were 121,000 arrivals in Punta del Este, spending $3.5m.