São Paulo – The Brazilian minister of Tourism, Luiz Barretto, is on a trip to the Middle East, where he is discussing the possibility of having new flights between Brazil and the region. Barreto arrived in Istanbul, Turkey, last Thursday (7th), and should also travel to Jordan and Israel. In the Arab country, where he should arrive on Saturday (9th) in the evening, Barreto will attend meetings in the capital Amman and get to know the tourism system in the city of Petra.
"I am travelling in retribution for the visit that the Jordanian minister of Tourism [Maha Khatib] paid to Brazil," Barretto told ANBA in a telephone interview. On Saturday, he will attend a dinner promoted by the Jordanian minister, the Brazilian embassy and government officials from the Arab country.
On Monday (11th), Barretto will meet with members of the Jordanian Tourism Board, the Royal Jordanian Airlines, the Jordan Hotel Association and the Jordan Society of Tourist and Travel Agencies.
"Royal Jordanian is interested in flying to Brazil. I am going to learn more about their plans of flying to São Paulo," said the minister. Having direct flights between Brazil and the Middle East is, by the way, one of the main topics of Barretto’s trip to the region.
In Turkey, during a meeting with Turkish Airlines representatives, the Brazilian minister discussed the possibility of connecting Brazil to Lebanon through flights operated by the company.
Presently, Turkish Airlines offers three daily flights from Istanbul to Beirut. "We are going to discuss how to increase [flight] frequency." The Turkish company already offers direct flights between São Paulo and Istanbul.
"Syria and Lebanon are very important from the perspective of cultural relations," said Barretto, adding that he intends to visit those two countries soon. "We have significant colonies in Brazil, especially Syrian and Lebanese. There are conditions for us to strengthen these relations," he claimed.
The matters to be discussed with Jordanian tourism industry representatives also include business opportunities in Brazil stemming from the country’s hosting of the World Cup 2014 and of the 2016 Olympics.
In his visit to Petra, on Sunday, Barretto will get to know the city’s tourism system. "They made a point of carrying out a complete benchmarking," he says. Benchmarking is the process whereby an organization analyzes how another carries out a specific task, so as to improve its processes in that particular field.
According to the minister, the Jordanians still know little about Brazil. He claims that the establishment of closer ties between the two countries was due to TV Globo network’s soap opera "Viver a Vida" (To Live the Life), which featured several scenes shot in Petra. Another point mentioned by Barreto was the fact that Petra and Rio de Janeiro have competed and won the contest to select the new seven wonders of the world.
According to Barretto, this trip is an "opening" for promoting Brazil as a tourist destination in the region. According to him, this process will continue. "The Embratur [Brazilian Tourism Institute] is prospecting those markets," he said. Embratur is the Tourism Ministry’s branch in charge of implementing national tourism policies.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
