Marina Sarruf
São Paulo – After a period of diminishing numbers of Brazilian tourists travelling to the Arab countries, representatives of tourism agencies offering packages to the region state that the flow of travellers is on the rise. In the opinion of operators, there has already been a significant increase in the first half of this year, in comparison to the same period in 2003. Among the main destinations are Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Lebanon.
According to information provided by the Brazilian Tourism Institute (Embratur), in the whole of last year, over 32,000 Brazilians travelled to the Middle East. Morocco was the main destination, followed by Lebanon and Egypt. The number of visitors, however, was lower than in 2002.
Morocco received 6,335 Brazilians in 2002 and only 5,980 last year. To Lebanon, the drop in the number of Brazilian tourists was 5.5%, and to Egypt, 5.6%, always according to the Embratur.
However, travel agencies are optimistic regarding the flow this year, although there are no official statistics regarding the first half.
"I believe that the Brazilians have lost their fear of going to these countries," stated Ingrid Davidovich, marketing director of New Age travel agency, which offers packages to the Arab countries. "It has improved a lot this year. People are not so scared anymore," stated Clara Kuraim, operations manager at Flot agency.
According to Ingrid, Brazilians visit these countries after culture, interested in seeing the history and ruins of ancient civilizations. They are not going after beaches, although there are good beaches there.
Destinations
According to another travel agency, Queensberry, there was a 20% increase in demand for packages including Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, as against last year. Every year an average of 96 Brazilian tourists opt for this tour, which includes a cruise on the River Nile.
"Egypt sells itself all year round, and is a sought after destination," stated Ingrid. At New Age, the number of clients who went to the country increased over 100% in the first half. From January to July last year, 42 people travelled to Egypt through the agency. In the first six months of 2004, this figure rose to 88. There was also a 30% increase in New Age tourists interested in travelling to Tunisia and 26% to Morocco.
Agency Flot also registered 100% growth in the number of customers who travelled to Egypt. According to information supplied by the company, 31% of the tourists who bought packages in the first half of the year went to the country in North Africa. Flot also stated that there has been a 48% increase in the number of tourists travelling to the region as a whole. Apart from that, there has been a 63% increase in the expenses of these passengers, meaning that the customers purchase more optional packages and stay in the country longer.
Although the number of Brazilians travelling to Lebanon dropped in 2003, when compared to 2002, Najib Zaatar Makhlouf, director of Negresco Turismo, specialized in the Middle East, believes that the figures should return to growing due to the flight between São Paulo and Beirut, to be inaugurated on August 17, in a partnership between Brazilian airline TAM and Lebanese Middle East Airlines.
"With the beginning of the TAM flights, there will be a significant increase in the number of Brazilians travelling to Lebanon," believes Makhlouf. "Lebanon is a door of entry to the other countries," he added.
According to the Negresco director, 80% of the Brazilians going to Lebanon spend at least one day in Syria. He believes that at least 9,000 Brazilians should travel to Lebanon up to the end of 2004, due to the large number of Lebanese descendants who live in Brazil. According to Embratur, last year the number of tourists visiting the country was 5,770.
Region with greatest growth
If the growth of Brazilian tourists travelling to the Arab countries is still not reality in terms of official statistics, the same cannot be said of the increase in tourists the region receives from other areas of the world.
According to information supplied by the World Tourism Organization (WTO), the tourist flow to the Middle East rose 34% in the first four months of 2004, in comparison to the same period in 2003. The organization also stated that the number of visitors to the region should increase at a rate of 7.1% up to the year of 2020.
In the WTO evaluation, tourism in the Middle East is growing more than tourism in any other area worldwide. The flow of foreign visitors to the region rose 27% from 2001 to 2003, reaching 30.4 million people.
According to the United Nations (UN), tourism in the United Arab Emirates rose 32% in 2003, in comparison to the previous year, in Lebanon and Bahrain there was a 14% increase, and in Egypt, 13%. In January this year, alone, Morocco received 45% more tourists than it had in the same month last year, informs the Internet page of Arab news agency Menafn.com.
Among the main Arab countries visited by tourists is Syria, which registered a 34% increase in tourist flow in the first four months of this year, as against the first four months in 2003.
Contacts
New Age
www.newage.tur.br
Queensberry
www.sysqueensberry.com.br
Flot
www.flot.com.br
Negresco
Tel. +55 (11) 3061-9082
