Giuliana Napolitano
São Paulo – Brazil continues without a direct flight to the Arab world, but there are now two airlines interested in creating this rout. One of the companies is Middle East Airlines, from Lebanon, which had already mentioned the possibility at the beginning of 2003. More recently, Emirates Airline, from the United Arab Emirates, also mentioned the possibility of operating a rout to Brazil.
Negotiations began during the tour president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took of the Arab countries, in December, informed the official Brazilian Tourism Agency (Embratur) business tourism manager, Lawrence Reinisch, to ANBA. According to him, there are still no definite conclusions about the routes, but the companies are interested. "The decision will not be immediate, but we have had meetings with the presidency of Middle East and Emirates, and could see that this is being considered," he stated.
Reinisch recalled that there is already an air space agreement between Brazil and Lebanon. That means that there is official authorization for companies from both countries to operate flights from one to the other. This is the first step for the creation of these routes. Now, an agreement is being worked on with the United Arab Emirates. According to him, a final conclusion should be reached within the "next few months."
Low profit
With regard to the beginning of regular flights, there is no definite schedule. "This depends on company interest, and it is necessary to take into consideration that the creation of a new rout is not always profitable in the beginning," pondered the Embratur manager. He explained that, for profit, a line must have four or five weekly flights, but at the beginning it is only possible to put three lines in operation per week.
For this reason, no Brazilian company is prepared to enter this business yet. "Brazilian companies have other more urgent interests now," stated Reinisch.
The situation of Arab companies, however, is more comfortable. Emirates Airline, for example, which is already one of the largest companies in the world, announced that they are about to purchase a fleet of eight Airbus A340-300s at the end of last year. The aircraft will start operating in March. Furthermore, the company has a list of another 71 aircraft to be delivered up to 2012, and intends to start operating direct flights to the United States, Scotland, Central Europe, China, and East Africa, this year.
But, despite a difficult beginning, there is still the risk of no demand for the new lines. This is what happened in the 1990s, with Middle East Airlines. The company started operating a direct flight between São Paulo and Beirut, with a stop in Ivory Coast, in 1995. But the line was canceled three years later, as the demand did not cover the cost. The company is now considering restarting this rout.
The tourist flow to the Middle East is low: in 2002, according to Embratur, it was below 8,000 people. From the Arab countries to Brazil, the figure is practically the same: around 7,000 visitors, or 0.2% of the total of foreigners who visit the country. The government target, however, is to multiply this figure by at least five up to 2007.
"Certainly, the creation of direct flights will make it easier for tourists to come to Brazil," hopes the Embratur manager. Nowadays, to go anywhere in the Middle East, or North Africa, it is necessary to stop in Europe.
Brazilian Week in Dubai
The first steps for growth were taken through the organization of the Brazilian Week & Trade Exhibition in Dubai, between December 7 and 9, the largest Brazilian business event ever to take place in an Arab country.
The Tourism Ministry and Embratur had stands at the fair and, apart from that, Embratur took five exhibitors from the sector to Dubai. Among them were three tourism operators, i.e., companies that may negotiate tourist packages, air tickets, etc., with travel agencies in the Arab countries. The companies at the fair were: Brasil Guide Turismo (BGT), Incentive Travel and São Paulo Saúde, the last company specialized in health tourism. "The objective is to bring people who want to do some sort of treatment in Brazil. The country is renowned, for example, for plastic surgery, dentistry, cardiology, and other specialties," explains Reinisch.
The other two exhibitors were Alcântara Machado, a trade fair promoter, and the Guarulhos city Development Agency (in the state of São Paulo), which is trying to find Arab investors for tourist projects in the city.
Lawrence Reinisch admits that Brazilian tourism industry participation in the fair was small, "we hoped that around 20 companies would show interest." But he associated this lack of interest to lack of knowledge of the market. "The Arab market is still very new to Brazilians, there is no tradition. It is hard to start, specially as there are no direct flights between both regions," he said.
The manager believes, however, that Embratur and Tourism Ministry action can provide good results in the long run. "In reality, all sector projects take at least two years to start showing results," he explained. "In the case of the Arab market, another two or three fairs are necessary for consolidation," he completes.
