{"id":414239,"date":"2026-07-21T10:45:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T13:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=414239"},"modified":"2026-07-21T10:45:53","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T13:45:53","slug":"arab-brazilian-chamber-ministry-to-boost-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/arab-brazilian-chamber-ministry-to-boost-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"Arab-Brazilian Chamber, ministry to boost tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 Brazil\u2019s Ministry of Tourism, the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce<\/strong> (ABCC<\/a>) and halal certifier FAMBRAS Halal will establish a working group to develop initiatives aimed at promoting tourism by Arabs and Muslims to Brazil, as well as travel by Brazilians to Arab countries. The agreement was reached during a meeting between Tourism Minister Gustavo Feliciano and leaders of the ABCC and FAMBRAS Halal on Monday (20) at the ABCC\u2019s headquarters in S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Minister
Minister discusses tourism expansion at Arab-Brazilian Chamber<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Among the proposals discussed at the meeting were easing or waiving tourist visa requirements between the countries and training Brazilian tourism businesses to better accommodate Arab and Muslim visitors. \u201cThe working group\u2019s role will be precisely to identify, more accurately, how we can achieve greater success with concrete initiatives,\u201d the minister told ANBA after the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May this year, Brazil waived visa requirements for Chinese citizens traveling to the country for up to 30 days, reciprocating a measure previously adopted by the Chinese government for Brazilian nationals. According to the minister, the move has since led to a 75% increase in Chinese tourism to Brazil. Feliciano noted that easing visa requirements for Arab nationals was only one of the ideas discussed, as the issue falls beyond the scope of the ABCC and the Ministry of Tourism and involves broader state policy as well as Brazil\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister, however, sees strong potential in the Arab travel market. \u201cBrazil is experiencing an extraordinary moment for tourism. To sustain and even expand this growth, we need to seek out new partners and new markets,\u201d he said, adding that the goal is not only to attract more visitors from Arab countries but also to encourage more Brazilians to travel to the region. Brazil welcomed around nine million international visitors in 2025, up from approximately six million in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister also believes that better preparing Brazil\u2019s tourism sector to welcome Arab and Muslim travelers could help attract more visitors from the region. \u201cRespecting cultural differences and preparing Brazilian tourism businesses and entrepreneurs to properly welcome Arab visitors could also be one way forward,\u201d he said. He stressed, however, that the working group will determine the most effective course of action, noting that an approach that works for one region may not necessarily be the best fit for another.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The
The formation of the working group was one of the proposals discussed during the meeting<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Speaking about direct flights between Brazil and Arab countries, Feliciano said the working group could also hold talks with airlines interested in adding Brazil to their route networks. \u201cRiyadh Air, from Saudi Arabia, is expanding and could include Brazil as a destination,\u201d he said, referring to the Saudi carrier. Currently, the only Arab countries with direct flights to Brazil are Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ABCC presented the minister with data on tourism\u2019s contribution to the gross domestic product of Arab countries, the number of Arab visitors traveling to Brazil, and factors that could help attract more tourists from the region. The presentation was delivered by ABCC Market Intelligence Manager Marcus Vin\u00edcius, following opening remarks by ABCC President Wiliam Adib Dib Jr., who reaffirmed the institution\u2019s commitment to working jointly with the ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also representing the ABCC at the meeting were Vice President of International Relations & Secretary-General Mohamad Orra Mourad, who proposed the creation of the working group; Vice President of Marketing Silvia Antibas; Treasurer Mohamad Abdouni Neto; Administrative Vice President Nahid Chicani; board members Sami Roumieh, Suzana Chohfi, Arthur Jafet, Alessandra Frisso, Claudia Haddad and William Atu; and Corporate and Institutional Services Coordinator Ana Cristina de Oliveira.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also attending the meeting with Minister Feliciano were National Secretary for Tourism Policies Augusto Lira da Rocha; the minister\u2019s chief of protocol, S\u00e9rgio Rodrigues; Head of the Special Communications Office Venceslau Borlina Filho; Communications Coordinator Caio Duarte Pereira; and photographer Diego George Herculano Cabral de Barros. FAMBRAS Halal was represented by Vice President Ali El Zoghbi and Director of Projects and Institutional Relations Delduque Martins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read also<\/em>:
Brazilian travelers are redefining tourism<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Guilherme Miranda<\/strong><\/p>\n

Isaura Daniel\/ANBA<\/div>
Isaura Daniel\/ANBA<\/div>
Isaura Daniel\/ANBA<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tourism Minister Gustavo Feliciano visited the Arab-Brazilian Chamber on Monday (20), where the two sides discussed creating a working group to implement measures aimed at attracting more Arab visitors to Brazil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1455,"featured_media":414221,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46537],"tags":[10044,49057,56230,9270,5536,2643,9692,2247],"class_list":{"0":"post-414239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arab-brazilian-chamber","8":"tag-arab-countries-en","9":"tag-arab-brazilian-chamber-2","10":"tag-gustavo-feliciano","11":"tag-minister","12":"tag-ministry","13":"tag-muslims","14":"tag-tourism-en","15":"tag-tourists"},"wps_subtitle":"Tourism Minister Gustavo Feliciano visited the Arab-Brazilian Chamber on Monday (20), where the two sides discussed creating a working group to implement measures aimed at attracting more Arab visitors to Brazil.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1455"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414239"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":414246,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414239\/revisions\/414246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}