RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian government announced a significant investment to improve the tourism infrastructure in the country’s Northeast region.
In total, it will finance, together with public banks, R$886.9 million (US$168 million) to renovate the airports of Recife, Campina Grande, and Juazeiro do Norte (all managed by the Spanish company AENA) and to build a complex in the historic center of the capital of Pernambuco.
Brazil’s Northeast was the protagonist of the reactivation of the country in the de-escalation of the pandemic. The search for natural destinations favored this region, especially when national trips were resumed.
But now that international travel is gaining strength again; it is necessary to adapt the infrastructure to receive foreign travelers, not only in the major destinations but also in other attractive destinations that would allow diversifying the offer and decentralizing the flow of visitors.
Because of this need, the Brazilian government is carrying out a strong investment plan in infrastructure directly or indirectly linked to tourism throughout the country, but especially in the Northeast, which beyond its attractiveness, is also a region that has historically lagged in terms of development.
Within this framework, the federal Minister of Tourism, Gilson Machado Neto, and the president of Banco do Nordeste, José Gomes da Costa, signed in Recife, Pernambuco State capital, financing contracts for a total of R$886.9 million for tourism infrastructure works.
The airports of Recife, Campina Grande, and Juazeiro do Norte, all operated by the local subsidiary of the Spanish administrator AENA, will be renovated with investments of R$790.9 million.
A tourist complex will be built in the historic center of Recife, with resources of R$150 million, of which R$96.6 million will be raised through Banco do Nordeste, the Northeast Constitutional Financing Fund, and the FNE Proinfra line.
In this regard, Machado Neto stated: “This is of fundamental importance to boost tourism. These investments add value to tourism”. And, in the same vein, he added: “In Recife, in the Pina Basin, there are already three new hotels under construction around Cais do Sertão, all of them believing in the economic recovery of tourism, especially nature tourism here in Brazil.”
CONNECTIVITY IS KEY
For Machado Neto, air connectivity in a country of Brazil’s size is vital. “Without an airplane, without an airport, we cannot unleash the tourist vocation that the country has. Now, we also have to work so that the value of tickets decreases. For example, the whole world flies with JET-A fuel; only Brazil used to fly with JET-A1. Our government has changed that,” he said.
And it is precisely for this reason that it is also necessary to invest in improving airport operations and passenger experience at the terminals. In the case of Recife, which handles an average of 600,000 passengers per month, R$508.9 million will be used for expansion and improvement works.
The Juazeiro do Norte terminal, which handles around 27,000 passengers, will receive R$168.2 million, and the Campina Grande terminal, with 11,400 passengers per month, will receive R$113.8 million.
Three other airports in the Northeast region will also receive financing: João Pessoa in Paraíba State, Aracaju in Sergipe State, and Maceió in Alagoas State, also managed by AENA.
In this case, the resources (R$1.2 billion) will be provided by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES, R$809.2 million) and by the Spanish administrator (R$400 million) in a public-private partnership.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, these six airports will enable the movement of some 14 million passengers per year. All of them were put out to tender by the government of Jair Bolsonaro in 2020 and will be controlled by AENA for 30 years.
NEW ATTRACTION
The Porto Novo Recife tourist complex will be the other project financed by Banco do Nordeste. Its second stage (works started in 2021) aims to “revitalize the historical cradle of the capital of Pernambuco”.
In this case, it is a loan for R$96.6 million to construct a tourist complex with a 4-star hotel with 300 rooms, integrated with a marina, a convention center, restaurants, stores, bars, and a swimming pool.
Although this is an ambitious project, its potential impact is also ambitious. According to the information provided, the project will generate 1,430 jobs and, once it is underway (in the first half of 2022), it will offer 3,380 direct and indirect jobs.