Operator News
Uruguay – Enjoy Punta del Este selected as Best Casino and Resort in Latin America
By Phil - 29 July 2019
Enjoy Punta del Este has been named the Best Casino & Resort in South America in the most recent edition of the World Travel Awards.
The resort has been operated by the Enjoy group since 2013. Enjoy has invested more than US$ 50m since its arrival in Uruguay in the expansion and modernisation of its facilities.
“We have made significant investments to continue offering excellent services that contribute to the growth of the tourism industry and the development of the country’s economy,” said the General Manager of Enjoy Punta del Este, Ignacio Sarmiento.
Since 2013 Enjoy Punta del Este has carried out regular investments linked to the update of the more than 500 slots and 75 table games in its casino, which covers an area of 4,000 square meters. it has also helped promote Uruguay as an international destination. This includes facilitating the transportation of players via charter flights to and from Argentina and Brazil, which in the period 2015-2018 amounted to an investment of close to US $23m. The resort has also strengthened its presence in the European market as it seeks to further promote itself as a year round destination.
In March 2013 the Uruguayan government approved a deal where the current operator of the Conrad hotel and casino in Uruguay would switch from Baluma SA to Enjoy SA meaning that Enjoy took control over the Conrad. In May 2017 the Chilean operator acquired 55 per cent of the shares of Baluma SA meaning that Enjoy finally obtained full ownership of the Conrad Punta del Este Resort. In April of the same year Enjoy issued a public bond in the United States in order to finance the purchasing of the remaining 55 per cent of the property after the company had announced that it had reached an agreement with its bondholders to raise the limit of its debt and therefore obtain the money for the operation of the resort.
In April this year Enjoy announced that a US$118m investment plan for the next two years will provide for the construction of three new hotel towers in Punta del Este, attract customers from the United States and Europe, and cover major building work for the municipal casinos in Chile according to company President, Javier MartÃnez. The executive said in a statement to Diario Financiero that all the financial restructuring carried out by the group is now complete and they now had the financing necessary for the new projects that will be carried out over the next two years. When it comes to the Hotel Enjoy de Punta del Este, MartÃnez said that part of the restructuring of car parking is already complete, room renovation had been carried out and that the company had built a new swimming pool. However the building of the new towers will not begin this year.
The World Travel Awards (WTA) was established in 1993 to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the tourism industry. Today, the WTA brand is recognised globally. Each year, WTA covers the globe with a series of regional gala ceremonies staged to recognise and celebrate individual and collective success within each key geographical region.
