The Tourism Committee of Maldonado`s State Government organized this meeting inviting SUTUR and other organizations to make a presentation on Rural tourism as another alternative of tourism Ms Alicia Morales, owner of La Salamora and Vice president of SUTUR (Uruguayan Society of Rural Tourism ) was in charge of the presentation.

On Friday June 24^th the Vice-Minister, Ms. Liliam Kechichian made a presentation about the situation of the tourism in Uruguay, providing figures of the last quarter and the projections for the upcoming season

It is interesting to note that in 2010 Uruguay received 2.407.676 tourists (excluding cruise ships) and that this represented USD 1.478245.600. The 2011 /2012 cruiser season has already 220 arrivals announced.

Arq Alvaro Bertoni Vice Director of the Tourism Department of Maldonado State presented their " Plan for of tourism, recreation and tourism of second residence"

Ms Morales made an hour presentation about Rural Tourism, about the members of SUTUR and the situation of this alternative tourism

Several television channels, newspapers and radio requested a small interview and this was another way to present the rural tourism offers that Uruguay has

For more information:
http://www.bienvenidoauruguay.com.uy/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=407:nuevas-alternativas-en-turismo

On Thursday, June 23 a Rural Tourism meeting took place at La Salamora where authorities of tourism of Maldonado and Lavalleja states  and  private tourism operators worked to create a new tourism trail related with Route Nr 60 one of the most panoramic routes in Uruguay.

The program was:

At 10: 00:-welcome and presentation of participants
      Presentation of Maldonado’s Tourism project
      Report about Second Show of Rural Tourism held at the Liga de Fomento of Punta del Este last march
      Report about the  Sustainable Tourism Fair held in Foz de Iguazú may 2011
      At noon:  Lunch

Presentation of issues to work together:
      a) Third sample of Rural tourism 2012 in Punta del Este.
      b) Regional Sustainable Tourism fair
      c) Tourism web

Representatives of transport operators, rural  and mining tourism where at this meeting , as well as the Directors of tourism of Lavalleja and Maldonado and the staff in charge of the  of Rural Tourism Department  of Maldonado´s government.
This group work all day and they end up with the idea of making a trail having  Route Nr 60 as the axis  submitting  in a couple of weeks a proposal to work together the private operators Maldonado and Lavalleja Governments.

As we all know Uruguay is characterized by rain throughout the year, which makes our fields natural grasslands of excellent quality and our cattle can have fresh water of ravines, streams and rivers throughout the year. In addition as we know Uruguay has a very friendly climate, which makes that “strange” atmospheric episodes draw our attention - This is the case of the hail and heavy rain that we had last Friday August 12 and as you can see on the pictures. A few hours after the storm, an absolutely cloudless sky gave us again the chance to enjoy our “full of stars nights” at La Salamora

Surrounded by the Minas Range, La Salamora was the start point for 26 teams that participated in this demanding competition, the format of career  tested the  technique and the strategy of the participants who could choose the order to get the control points and also choose to check all of them or perform a minimum requirement and gain time in the final

The peace  and tranquility of La  Salamora changed for a day, where competitors and guests enjoyed the location and activities.  A light lunch helped start the competition. Snack for those who were waiting for was a good opportunity  to enjoy homemade cakes and “regional alfajores” (a type of cookie) . The dinner and the awards ceremony was the prominent point of the day where competitors and accompanists shared their experiences.

Thanks to SUCA Sports for choosing La Salamora  for this Columbia Challenge Winter 2011.

Along with Mickey and Paul (mother and son) who came from USA to visit Uruguay for their third time we visited the Prof Gonzalo Vicin`s Observatory at Villa Serrana a lovely small country town. It was an peaceful early autumn afternoon, where the evening gave us an awesome sky, clean, colorful and excellent for sky watching. After a snack we climbed up to the Observatory and we enjoy not only the sky, but also the knowledge of Prof. Viccino who instructed us about the beauty of the sky in our southern hemisphere. For Mickey and Paul was such a wonderful experience and were surprised to see the rings of Saturn or the clouds of Magallanes. And that was not all, they discovered that the Milky Way is simply wonderful.

According to what Mickey wrote in our Guest Book"... learning about your beautiful Uruguayan Sky was just the topping of our experience…"

Our sheep already began to give birth and lambs called to their moms filling up the air of La Salamora with their voices. Ideal time to make a trip to the country, enjoy the awesome colors of the fall, the blue hills and the sky full of stars. A good fire at night, a aperitif with our famous Caña con Butia licour will be part of the enjoyment

After the N. Y Times Travel Show SUTUR was invited to give a presentation on rural tourism in the city of Miami, organized by the Manager Buquebus in Miami, Mr Romagnoli. The main idea was to give to a group of Miami tour operators the chance to learn about new alternatives of tourism beyond the ,”Sun and beach”,” full day Cologne or Montevideo city tours” well known offers. La Salamora made a general presentation on Rural tourism representing SUTUR and giving information on the different proposals that the members of SUTUR have. The Consul of Uruguay on the area, Mr Alvaro Gallardo was at the presentation as well as Mr. Guntram Von Habsburg representing the Uruguayan tourism