Giuliana Napolitano
São Paulo – The government target for the tourism sector is to triple the number of foreigners who come to Brazil, and reach the figure of 9 million visitors per year up to the year of 2007. But, despite the immediate appeal off the beaches, forests, summer, and other attractions connected to the climate and natural beauties of the country, the objective is not to bet everything (not even most things) on leisure. For this purpose, apart from setting up a specific Tourism Ministry – which did not exist in past administrations – the current government also created a sector that only takes care of operations in the business sector within the official Brazilian Tourism Agency (Embratur).
This year the sector target is to participate in 15 international trade fairs and in 25 trade fairs in Brasil, informed area manager Lawrence Reinisch to ANBA. "Business tourism was neglected up to the end of 2002, but now we are prepared to invest," he declared.
The main reason is financial: according to Reinisch, while average daily expenses of a tourist who is in Brazil on holiday are around US$ 80, in the case of business tourism, the daily average is around US$ 300. "This is not to count business that may take place," he added. "This sector has large turnover."
The Embratur plan is to promote participation in foreign fairs and business events in the country, and organize technical visits to companies, plantations, etc. "We are starting from the principle that everything may be a tourist product: a herd of cattle, a factory. These tourists are here to do business, they want to visit these places," he said.
In the case of events in Brazil, according to Reinisch, the intention is to "attract investors, potential importers, and also foreign journalists who may show the Brazilian economy internationally." Some fairs to take place in the country up to December and are already included in the Embratur calendar are Francal (shoe industry), Fenit (textile), ForMobile (furniture), BrasilPack (packaging), Telexpo (telecommunication), Feicon (civil construction), Fispal (food), Comdex (software), and Hospitalar (health).
The institute is also participating in Couromoda, which started in São Paulo on Monday (13), and is studying participation in the Auto Fair. "We are evaluating the possibility of bringing importers to this fair," explained Reinisch. This is due to the fact that apart from increasing the number of foreign tourists who come to Brazil, stated the manager, another Embratur objective is aligned with another broader Embratur objective, export increase.
In international events, Embratur will "show the excellent meeting and corporate event infrastructure there is in Brazil," informed Reinisch. According to him, the central focus of resorts – such as Costa do Sauípe, in the northeastern state of Bahia – is business tourism. "Leisure is only four months a year," he finished off.
Some international fairs included in the Embratur list for this year are GDS (shoes), which takes place in Germany, and Fial (food), which takes place in Paris.
