By Silvio Nascimento*
After two years of a series of travel restrictions, with Brazil among the leading countries in vaccination against COVID-19 and with the mitigation of the pandemic, Embratur’s focus has been on enhancing a world-renowned brand that arouses great curiosity: Brazil.
To this end, the Agency’s strategy has been based on consolidating already open markets and reaching new tourists and regions with a strong interest in Brazilian natural and cultural beauty. This last line of action precisely places the Arab countries as essential for promotional activities, as expenses of tourists from the Arab League with international travel reached, solely in 2019, over USD 50.7 billion.
To win over this audience and thereby foster the inflow of foreign exchange, generate income, and boost the creation of new jobs in a chain bringing together over 50 sectors of the Brazilian economy, in 2021, we participated in Expo Dubai 2020, in which the Brazil Pavilion had great prominence and was among the most visited at the show. Together with ApexBrasil, Embratur realized in person that Arab tourists and investors want to know our country, one of the ten biggest economies in the world, with a nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in the 1st quarter of this year, of USD 1.83 trillion, surpassing nations like Russia, South Korea, and Australia, according to Austin Rating.
In this sense, Embratur was recently in the United Arab Emirates to align several joint actions with local bodies to boost the Brazil brand in the region, holding meetings with critical players of the Arab trade and even planning the implementation of the Agency’s office in Dubai, for example. In addition, in June, we invited a team of Arab journalists and digital influencers to get to know some of the beauties of Brazil, with options for luxury destinations in Amazonas and Rio de Janeiro, when we demonstrated the country could serve tourists from the highest tier.
Due to the need to expand air connectivity with the Arab world, Embratur is committed to ensuring the aviation sector upturns quickly. To this end, it has established constant contact with airlines from different countries to articulate the creation of new routes or resumption of flights.
This effort has yielded solid results. Based on a mission organized by the Brazilian government to nine countries in the Arab world in May this year, Embratur took part in negotiations with airlines Royal Air Maroc (RAM) and Egypt Air, which intend to return nonstop flights from Morocco and offer new flights from Egypt in 2022. This year, Brazil also established a rapprochement with Saudi Arabia with a nonstop flight between Riyadh and Rio de Janeiro.
The outlook remains promising, with a gradual increase in our international air network, on a global scale. In June this year, the country reached 76% of its connectivity in 2019, with 3,806 arrivals. The total increase was 355.36% compared to the same month in 2021, and flights from Qatar and the UAE increased by 40% – from 66 to 93.
Embratur has made a daily and consistent effort for the resumption of international tourism to take place quickly and solidly. This year, we achieved a budget 74% higher than 2020 and amplified all our promotional activities abroad. In numbers, we can mention in just five months (from January to May 2022), we surpassed 1 million foreigners entering the country on a tourist visa, which had not happened since 2020, after the global pandemic outbreak.
Tourism is a powerful tool for socio-economic development, and Embratur makes every effort to leverage the sector in Brazil. According to intelligence tools, we expect to surpass 4 million international visitors this year. Without a doubt, we realize there is space and environment for us to make the relationship between Brazil and the Arab countries even closer and more productive.
*Silvio Nascimento is president of Embratur, the Brazilian Agency for International Tourism Promotion.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
The opinions expressed in the articles are the responsibility of the authors.
