Operator News
Uruguay – President authorises coastal luxury hotel and casino tender
By James - 15 August 2023
The Uruguayan President, Luis Lacalle Pou, has signed a resolution to open the call for international public tender for the sale of land for a luxury hotel with a casino in Uruguay.
The resolution was also signed by the Minister of Tourism, Tabaré Viera, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Azucena Arbeleche, and the Minister of Transport and Public Works, José Luis Falero.
According to the document the property must be used for the “construction, completion and commissioning of a luxury hotel for the private exploitation of gambling.” The license will be valid for 20 years and will be supervised by the Ministry of Tourism.
The property is located between the towns of La Paloma and La Aguada, in Rocha, about 100 kilometres from Punta del Este. The base sale value of the property stands at around US$6.2m.
Meanwhile, for the new casino the operator will pay a fee of 7.2 per cent of gross income during the first seven years. From the eighth, this will increase to 7.97 per cent. The operator will also have to pay an annual fee of US$1.8 million dollars in the first year, which will increase another 100 thousand dollars until the seventh year.
The details of the resolution – which was reported by local newspaper El Observador last week uses the words “luxury hotel” as opposed to a “five-star hotel” as outlined in previous projects. The previous tenders were unsuccessful because the three companies that put forward their bids failed to pass the first stage of the tender.
It seems as if the government is going ahead with an expansion of the market. Last week the Minister of Tourism announced the development of another casino in Uruguay. The Uruguayan executive branch authorised the call for bids for the construction of a hotel and casino in the city of Paysandú. The project, has a planned investment of around US$22m, will have an event and convention hall, restaurants, commercial premises and a casino, and will be built where a cinema previously stood.
