São Paulo – Since Sunday (08), a delegation headed by the government of the state of Santa Catarina has been in the United Arab Emirates to invite local authorities and businessmen to participate in the annual meeting of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), to be promoted in May, in Florianópolis, the state capital. Yesterday (10), the director general of the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Khalid bin Sulayem, confirmed his presence at the event.
The mission headed by the governor of the state of Santa Catarina, Luiz Henrique da Silveira, met with the minister of Finance and Industry of the Emirates, Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also the deputy governor of Dubai, and with the director general of Dubai Municipality, Hussein Lootah. Apart from them, the governor also met with managers of investment group Kingdom Hotel Investments, which controls luxury hotel chain Four Seasons.
According to the governor of the state of Santa Catarina, in a press statement disclosed by the government of the state of Santa Catarina, the Arab group is completing its studies to take the hotel chain to Brazil. Initially, the company plans to build three large resorts in the country. "We are already starting to harvest the fruit of our growth on the domestic market and this event will certainly place us on the global tourism map," said Luiz Henrique.
Yesterday, the president of the Brazilian Tourism Institute (Embratur), Jeanine Pires, also arrived in Dubai to participate in the Santa Catarina state delegation. The objective of his trip, apart from promoting the WTTC event, is to mobilise investors and discuss the tendencies of the tourism industry worldwide.
The WTTC brings together over 100 executives and controllers of large companies in the sector worldwide. The theme of the meeting this year is the perspective of the behaviour of tourism due to the global crisis. The event, which is organized by the government of the state of Santa Catarina, in partnership with the Embratur, should also be disclosed by the institute in countries like Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Germany, the Untied States, Japan and China.
The last WTTC meeting took place in Dubai and this is the first time the event comes to Latin America.
The delegation from the state of Santa Catarina, which should head to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the Emirates, today, also includes state secretaries, senators and representatives. The committee returns to Brazil late this week.
*Translated by Mark Ament
