Brasília – Promoting sustainable tourism is one of the priorities of the Brazilian Agency for International Tourism (Embratur), according to its president Marcel Freixo (pictured). He said tourism is among the five most important economic activities in the world, according to the World Economic Forum, as it is compatible with the challenges of the 21st century.
“Tourism is an economic activity capable of generating development and conserving nature. That is, it is an economic activity where culture is a value, gastronomy is a value and nature is a value. It is an activity that is very compatible with the challenges of humanity for the 21st century, because it preserves, conserves, creates jobs and generates development. Unlike other economic activities that have negative consequences. Tourism is a solution in itself,” he said in an interview for the show A voz do Brasil on Monday (27) in Brasília.
Regarding Brazil’s bid to host the 30th United Nations Climate Conference (COP30) scheduled for 2025, the president of Embratur highlighted that the event will gather the main authorities in the world around the environment issue. “We are talking about one of the most important events in the world, with all the main authorities coming to Brazil, and not to Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo. They’ll go to Belém, to be close to the Amazon,” he said.
According to Freixo, tourism accounts for 8% of the gross domestic product (GDP). “And it could account for so much more, compared to the various destinations we have, in addition to being a permanent source of jobs and income, development and fight against inequality,” he said.
Among the sector’s challenges, Marcelo Freixo highlighted the need for geeting more airlines to operate flights. “The price of fuel has gone up a lot. We know that airlines faced a big problem during the pandemic, but it’s too expensive. So, we have talked a lot with all the airlines – we want to attract an increasing number of companies, in addition to encouraging major destinations to open new flights.”
At the beginning of the month, Embratur had disclosed data on the record-high number of tourists in the country in the first months of the year: 1.5 million foreigners entered the country, with a revenue close to USD 1 billion. “If we continue like this, in the first semester we already beat the record of the last whole years. So, we are surpassing the pre-pandemic 2019 marks. This is a sign that the world is looking at Brazil in a different way,” he celebrated.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
