During December was held the second stage of the case study "Uruguay Natural: The differentiation of an emerging tourism destination," conducted by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the UNWTO.Themis Foundation in collaboration with the Instituto de Empresas (IE Business School) and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Uruguay.

This case study, the first one written on a destination, is to analyze the increase in expenditure per visitor, in response to increasing tourism revenues in Uruguay during the last 10 years.

In early December, the lecturers from IE Business School, Rosario Silva and Liliana Gelabert, conducted interviews with various stakeholders from the Uruguayan tourism industry, from both public and private sectors, in major tourism destinations in Uruguay: Colonia, Atlantis, Piriápolis, Punta del Este , Rocha and Montevideo.

This project began in mid-June with a preliminary investigation that included analysis of various public and private organizations' websites; the strategic plan of the Eastern Routes of Uruguay 2008, in the framework of UNWTO.Volunteers; of material on tourism promotion of Uruguay; of statistics of the main variables of tourism; and of institutional documentation from the private sector and the civil society.

The final document will be delivered during the first half of 2011.