São Paulo – The government of Brazil plans to use the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, to take place in Brazil, to provide a boost to tourism in the country. In the first week of January, the Ministry of Tourism presented a study with 184 suggested destinations for foreign tourists coming to Brazil for the World Cup. On the other hand, the Presidential Palace is studying a package of measures to provide incentives to the sector, especially in the tax area.
In the former case, according to the Structuring, Articulation and Tourism Budget director at the Ministry of Tourism, Ricardo Moesch, destinations have been selected in the areas of ecotourism and adventure, sun and beach, culture and history as well as sports. They are sites that are relatively close to the 12 cities that host the Cup and that may be visited between one game and another.
“They are destinations that are ready, and are already traded,” said Moesch. He pointed out, however, that the list is preliminary and that other sites may be included. The destinations selected must be at a maximum distance of three hours by car, or two by aeroplane, from the host city. According to the ministry, they will have priority to receive funds and activities for promotion.
Among the attractions chosen are Angra dos Reis, Búzios and Paraty, in Rio de Janeiro, the historic cities of Minas Gerais, Ilhabela, on the coast of São Paulo, Foz do Iguaçu, in Paraná, Florianópolis, in Santa Catarina, the Rio Grande do Sul mountain range, Pirenópolis, in Goiás, Chapada dos Guimarães, in Mato Grosso, Bonito, in Mato Grosso do Sul, Olinda and Fernando de Noronha, in Pernambuco, several beaches on the shore of the Northeast, and areas surrounding Manaus, in Amazonas state.
Promotion, according to Moesch, should take place this year through a network of 150,000 travel agencies to which the ministry has access around the world – through electronic marketing and participation in sector fairs. This work will be in the hands of the Brazilian Tourism Institute (Embratur), an organisation connected to the ministry.
The government also plans to disclose a list of destinations recommended to Brazilian tourists who are travelling around the country to see the matches. According to the director, 600,000 foreign visitors and 3 million Brazilian visitors are expected during the Cup.
In the evaluation of the International Relations vice president at the Brazilian Travel Agency Association (Abav), Leonel Rossi, the number of sites listed by the government is “a little exaggerated”. “But it is better to have more than less,” he stated.
He said that the audience of the World Cup is made up of “aficionados” and that spectators “should not have so much time” to visit other destinations apart from the cities hosting the matches. Rossi added that few tourists should remain in the country for the whole duration of the Cup and that average stay at events of the sort is 10 days.
To the executive, it is hard to promote so many destinations at the same time and the choice of places to be visited will depend much on agencies and operators that offer packages to tourists. “They show the ideal attractions in cities,” he pointed out.
He added that packages are paid for in advance, which means, for example, that visitors will not get their money back in case they decide to spend the night at different places than the one originally planned.
Rossi believes that Cup spectators should opt for shorter trips, which may take place in just one day, like a visit to a city in the Rio Grande do Sul mountain range for those in Porto Alegre, one of the historic cities, for those in Belo Horizonte, or Guarujá, for those staying in São Paulo. Longer trips, in his opinion, may take place after the Cup.
Incentives
In the area of benefits for the sector, considering those disclosed up to now, there are 14 incentive measures being discussed by the government, among them the reduction of specific airport fees, tax cuts on aviation fuel and products used in hotels and make labour laws more flexible in the case of cyclic jobs like, for example, temporary posts in hotels and resorts in the summer.
In the evaluation of the vice president at Abav, however, the main concern of businessmen with regard to the World Cup and the Olympics is infrastructure. To him, more than paying a little less, tourists want to arrive at a good airport and have an efficient transport system at their disposal.
With regard to taxes, according to Rossi, the main talks should be focussed on the return of taxes paid by foreign tourists on purchases made in the country, a system called “duty free shopping” that is present in many other countries. Visitors keep the receipts of goods and meals they bought, present them on leaving and receive the tax back.
So that the experience of visitors during sports events is positive and generates fruit in terms of image for many years, it is also necessary to invest in services, like those offered by taxis, hotels and restaurants. “We have already improved [in this area], but we still have a long way to go,” said Rossi.
In his opinion, “a positive or negative image may be left” in visitors who come for the Cup and the Olympics. “It depends on us,” he pointed out.
*Translated by Mark Ament
