São Paulo – The route known as "Rota das Emoções" (Route of Emotions), which includes Jericoacoara, the Parnaíba River Delta and Lençóis Maranhenses, in the coast of the states of Ceará, Piauí and Maranhão, wants to attract more foreign tourists. In 2009, the route was considered the best integrated route in Brazil by the Ministry of Tourism, which, in partnership with the Brazilian Tourism Institute (Embratur), Comitê Visite Brasil (Visit Brazil Committee) and the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) is promoting the destination at international fairs for the industry.
The initial focus of the work is on Argentina, Portugal, Italy, Spain and Germany. This week, the route’s team will attend the International Tourism Fair of Latin America (FIT), the leading tourism event in Argentina, due October 30th to November 2nd. The aim is getting to know the tour operators and selecting those that will be taken to "Rota das Emoções" on a recognition visit in the first half of 2011.
There should be business meetings, visits to the main attractions and to some establishments. After the trip, a sales seminar will be promoted in partnership with the tour operators that visited the route, in order to detail the packages that will be offered by the Argentinean operators to their suppliers.
In order to conquer this new market niche, the technical team at "Rota das Emoções" conducted a survey on the buying behaviour of the international target market, based on which the target countries have been selected.
In the case of Argentina, for instance, the survey has shown that the country’s market is interested in products that provide a broad variety of experiences within one single trip.
As in the case of the FIT, in Buenos Aires, actions on the European market should include attendance to the continent’s leading tourism events in 2011: Fitur Madri, from February 19 to 23; BIT Italy, from February 17 to 20; BTL Lisbon, from February 23 to 27; and ITB Berlin, from March 9 to 13.
*With information from Agência Sebrae. Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
