São Paulo – State-run agency the Brazilian Tourism Institute (Embratur) estimates that Brazil will welcome 2.42 million international tourists next summer, it said this Monday (5). If confirmed, the number will be an 11% increase over last season.
According to Embratur, sun and beach destinations are very attractive to non-Brazilians, and that is why summer accounts for a third of all tourists coming to Brazil any given year. The agency is betting on an increase due to promotional actions and the visibility afforded to the country by the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“Brazil is in the minds of people around the world because of the beautiful spectacle that we put on in Rio 2016,” Embratur president Vinicius Lummertz said in a press release. “Embratur is taking advantage of this moment, leveraged by favorable exchange rates, to renew its invitation to prospective tourists and thereby set a new record in foreign tourist numbers this summer,” he added. According to him, Brazilian hospitality came as a surprise to 98% of people who came for the Games.
The summer season in Brazil lasts from December 2016 to February 2017. Embratur said that by the end of this year, its advertising campaigns will air on international TV channels including CNN, Fox, Discovery, and Natgeo. The goal is to advertise Brazil primarily in the Americas and in Europe.
Promotional material will also be available at airports in Argentina, Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Colombia and Uruguay.
Embratur also spoke in favor of an extension of the tourist visa exemption policy that was put in place from June 1 to September 18 as a result of the Games. It applied to tourists from the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia. According to the agency, tourist numbers from those countries grew by 55.31% from the comparable period of 2015. The Brazilian Ministry of Tourism estimates that an extension could bring an additional USD 175.2 million per year into the national economy.
Whether visas are required or not, however, hinges on approval from other government arms, since Brazilian diplomacy requires reciprocation in international relations, i.e. the treatment dispensed to people from a given country must mirror how Brazilians are treated in that country.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
