AS BRAZIL prepares to invest $14 billion in preparation for the Olympic Games, WALTER VASCONCELOS marketing director of Embratur spoke to LIZ O’REILLY about the importance of the country’s tourism industry.
The Brazilian government has taken steps to recognize tourism as an important economic driver, what does this mean in terms of policy?
The government knows that tourism is one of the key drivers of the Brazilian economy and that tourism has considerable growth potential. The creation of the Ministry of Tourism in 2003 reflects this awareness.
The ministry is responsible for the development of tourism as an economic and sustainable activity with a relevant role in the creation of employment opportunities, revenues and fostering of social inclusion.
In addition to the ministry, there is also the Brazilian Institute of Tourism (Embratur), an agency that currently focuses on the promotion of international tourism. This highlights the aim of the Brazilian government of promoting international tourism and offering good service infrastructure.
How many people are employed in tourism in Brazil and what percentage of GDP does the industry generate?
Based on data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, in 2006, activities associated with tourism generated 5.714 million jobs. The sum of these activities represented BRL31.34 million ($18.3 million) in salaries. In 2007 tourism accounted for 2.6 per cent of the GDP.
What was the number of tourist arrivals in 2009, how did this differ from 2008 and how was Brazil affected by the economic downturn?
In 2009, a total of 6,510,953 tourists visited Brazil. This number was influenced by a reduction in tourists from Europe, as European countries were most affected by the world economic crisis. The decrease in international tourism was balanced by an increase in domestic tourism. In 2009 a total of 56 million domestic departures were registered, a historic record that surpassed 2008 by 3.7 per cent. Another factor that reduced the impact of the decrease of foreign tourism was the revenue in dollars that had been generated between 2003 and 2009, which grew 114 per cent from $2.47 billion to $5.3 billion.
Is the Middle East a region from which Brazil is keen to draw greater numbers and how do you plan to achieve this?
We are working in the Middle East through participation in fairs and organisation of workshops, especially forming partnerships with airline companies. We are currently active in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.
Since Qatar Airways inaugurated the Sau Paulo flight route it has arranged trips with operators and journalists from the Middle East and Asia which Embratur supports.
Currently there are direct flights to Brazil from Dubai, Qatar and Turkey.
How is Brazil preparing for the 2016 Olympics?
Currently direct investments from the federal government total $14.4 billion divided into five areas – $1.38 billion in airports, $376 million in ports, $6.2 billion in urban mobility, $2.7 billion in soccer stadiums and $555 million in the hotel business.
Already 28,000 hotel facilities are undergoing a new classification process by the Ministry of Tourism and improvements have been made. Important international hotel chains, such as Accor, Sol Meliá and Four Seasons have also announced that they will expand their presence or will start operations in Brazil.
What will the hosting of such a major, international event mean for the country?
In addition to boosting the pride of Brazilians, this event will have considerable positive effects for Brazil in several areas, especially the economy. This is a unique opportunity to show our tourist destination to the entire world and thus attract a large number of tourists, which will lead to the creation of more jobs. The estimated impact on the GDP is $11 billion between 2009 and 2016. The investment of $14.4 billion will generate an economic movement of $ 51.1 billion in Brazil. Estimates also indicate that the number of jobs will increase up to 120,000 a year during the preparation and hosting of the Olympic Games.
President Jeanine Pires has left Embratur to join the games co-ordination organisation, how will this affect Embratur and who will replace her.
Jeanine Pires’ departure will not affect the activities of Embratur. The new president, Mario Moysés, took office on September 10. He was born in the city of São Paulo and throughout his career has worked in management positions. In 2004 he was the secretary of the office of the Mayor of São Paulo and from 2007 to 2008 was the head of the office of the Ministry of Tourism. Since 2008, he has been the executive secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, a function which he now shares with the presidency of Embratur.
The main concern of the new president is to maintain the coherent policy of Embratur, which has been showing positive results. The aim is to maintain the registered growth rate.
Moysés has recently announced that the budget for international marketing of Embratur in 2011 may reach BRL180 million ($105 million), a 40 per cent increase when compared to 2009.