Brazil boosts its offer of theme parks and tourist attractions

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Diário do Turismo has exclusively interviewed Carolina Negri, Executive President of the Integrated System of Parks and Tourist Attractions (SINDEPAT). The official affirms: “We are a sector that thrives on innovation”.

SINDEPAT will be 20 years old in 2023. What conquests do you consider essential in almost two decades?

We can list some achievements, but, undoubtedly, the publication of Resolution 04 CAMEX, which determined the permanent exemption of the equipment import tax in the sector in the Mercosur area, was the main one. The resolution was signed in October 2019 and came into force on January 10, 2020. It was one of the oldest claims in the parks sector since this tax rate has always been a major restriction for expanding the sector in Brazil. We are an industry that thrives on innovation, whose manufacturers are spread worldwide. The tax amounted to more than double the value of the equipment, plus shipping. We are talking about large equipment with particularities for its transportation and movement.

Reaching this claim is a milestone for the sector and SINDEPAT, but we have had many achievements in these almost two decades. Among them, the consolidation of the SINDEPAT Summit as the main event of the sector of tourist parks and attractions in Brazil. This month, March 23 and 24, we will hold the event’s third edition. Despite the uncertainties still due to the pandemic, we have an important number of exhibitors, including international ones. I also consider it fundamental to increase the importance given to the sector in these almost 20 years, both by the Legislative and Executive Power and the press, who started to see and listen to us. We are essential anchors of tourism development, and today, we are recognized for that.

Are theme parks and related tourist attractions already part of the Brazilian people’s imagination? Is the sector looking for inspiration and benchmarking in other countries?

Yes. Today, the parks are the object of desire of Brazilian families’ trips. Parks like Beto Carrero World in Santa Catarina, which celebrated its 30th-anniversary last year, have contributed a lot to this. As an association, we observe all the novelties and openings worldwide because we are a sector that lives on innovation. Any park or tourist attraction needs constant innovations planning to retain its public.

There is a lot of national inspiration, but, of course, there is benchmarking. Brazilian parks visit international fairs and parks all over the world. At SINDEPAT, we share this information with our partners and the market. We hold the SINDEPAT Summit annually, bringing together in one place the leading manufacturers of technology, products, and services for the parks and attractions sector.

What are the most challenging difficulties for SINDEPAT in fulfilling its mission?

We work intensely in conjunction with the Legislative and Executive Branches. One of the difficulties faced by SINDEPAT and all of tourism, in general, is the lack of continuity of governmental planning at the State and Union levels. We are constantly on a mission to reinforce the economic importance of tourism, which many Legislative and Executive representatives still see as superfluous.

We are a strong industry with a significant impact on income generation and distribution in local communities. The pandemic has shown that this is a common difficulty for the industry, not just for parks and attractions. With the pandemic restrictions, Brazil’s leading tourism associations came together to advocate common demands in Brasilia in a group known as the Tourism G20+. SINDEPAT played an essential role in this group.

Is the Brazilian legislation on the activity satisfactory, or does it need to be updated? Are there any obstacles to importing equipment?

We have come a long way since the creation of SINDEPAT in 2003. However, several points need to be updated. The General Tourism Law, the regulatory framework for the sector, dates back to 2008. Many things have changed since then. Congress has a bill to modernize this law, but it still needs to be voted in the Senate. We need a scenario that stimulates the generation of jobs without burdening the businessman.

The tax on equipment imports, which is part of the DNA of the parks, was exempted after more than two decades of SINDEPAT’s demand to the Executive Power, even without national production of this equipment. However, the cascade of IPI, ICMS, and other taxes linked to exchange, freight, and transportation costs, still has a considerable impact on our sector. We are also still battling to categorize them as capital goods since these imported pieces of equipment are the “machines” that generate the park’s service: amusement and leisure. Some aspects impact the dispatch of imported equipment. Finally, the whole framework of the so-called “Brazil Cost” significantly affects any renovation or investment planning.

What is the interface quality between SINDEPAT and the constituted powers – Executive and Legislative?

SINDEPAT’s performance, together with the Executive and Legislative Branches, is one of the pillars of the association. We were born to defend the interests of the parks and tourist attractions sector, to pave a favorable scenario for the sector’s development. We have a government relations office in Brasilia, which is essential to maintain a close relationship, especially with the Legislative Branch, monitoring proposals and measures that directly or indirectly impact the sector.

Last year we conducted a series of interviews with parliamentarians, published on the SINDEPAT website, introducing our deputies and the sector to those parliamentarians, both federal deputies and senators, dedicated to tourism agendas. They exist and have a solid parliamentary role but remain a minority in Congress.

What is the most relevant impact on theme parks due to the C-19 pandemic?

Like several other sectors, we had the immediate stoppage of activities with the beginning of the pandemic. Together with the rest of the sector, we mobilized as an association, forming the Tourism G20+. We made our demands to the public authorities to ensure the sector’s survival and guarantee our recovery. The measures helped mitigate the impact on layoffs and job retention. I believe that the local communities where the parks and attractions are located were directly impacted by the closures, confirming the total dependence on tourism in several regions of Brazil. Since the pandemic’s beginning, our associates have mobilized in campaigns to donate food, hygiene kits, and cleaning products to ensure some security to these communities.

How is the economic and financial health of the companies in the sector? How do you see the pace of the resumption of the flow of visitors?

We are in the process of recovery. As an industry that thrives on innovation, tourist parks and attractions are working with long-term plans and have maintained their investments, even establishing new schedules in some cases.

At Beach Park, for example, we had the inauguration of a new attraction, ToboMusik, last December. Beto Carrero World inaugurated a new attraction, Rebuliço, in January of this year. We also had a series of attraction openings, such as the Ferris wheels in Balneário Camboriú (Santa Catarina) and Foz do Iguaçu (Paraná), Acquamotion, the first water park in Gramado (Rio Grande do Sul), Skyglass, the glass walkway in Canela (Rio Grande do Sul), the Oceanic Aquarium in Balneário Camboriú, or the Pratagy Acqua Park, a water park in Maceió.

There have been many openings in the last two years and another large number of projects planned for this year and next. The flow of visitors has been growing, especially last year, with the advance of vaccination. We also believe that we are experiencing a moment of domestic tourism, both because of the uncertainties about the variants of the virus and the less flexible entry policies in some countries and because of the exchange rate, leaving the dollar and the euro extremely valued against our currency.

What is the profile of theme park investors in the country? In addition to domestic capital, does the sector attract entrepreneurs and brands from abroad?

We have several players who believe in the parks, attractions, and entertainment sector. They are entrepreneurs from the industry who have sought to expand their product portfolio or from other sectors seeking to diversify their business operations. Some groups have received contributions from investment funds—Brazilian entrepreneurs and genuinely Brazilian brands. The main point is that the leisure and entertainment business, where our sector is inserted, has stood out in the Brazilian scenario.

What can we say about the management and professionalization level of the human resources employed in the activity?

That is another point that has improved significantly in the last 20 years. The sector has invested a lot in the training of the workforce because our associates are often the first investors in some communities. It happened with Beach Park, in Aquiraz, Ceará, in Costa do Sauipe, in Bahia, but also in the South-Southeast axis. The Gramado Parks group, which is building a complex with resorts and a water park in Praia dos Carneiros, in Pernambuco, announced the installation of a corporate university in the region to train about 2,000 people. The idea is that of these, at least 1,000 can be used in the complex itself, and the surplus can find a series of opportunities created by the development that tourism will experience in the region.

In SINDEPAT’s opinion, has there been an evolution in the safety index for theme park users?

Yes, without a doubt. Technology contributes a lot to this. Our parks and attractions are used to working with extensive “checklists” that include several factors, emphasizing all safety elements. When we designed, in partnership with Adibra (Brazilian Association of Parks and Attractions), the biosecurity protocols to face the pandemic, inspired by the international model of IAAPA (Global Association for the Industry of Parks and Attractions), the adherence of parks and attractions was immediate. The inclusion of new protocols in existing checklists was instantaneous because we are a sector that has already experienced it.

What impact do digital technology and aggregates have on the overall operation of the parks? Was there a reduction in the operational workforce?

It isn’t easy for technology to replace labor in the parks and attractions industry. We serve the public; our visitors expect to be greeted with a smile. Technology is fundamental to improving business management, visitor experience, and security, with touchless equipment, for example, but human contact is fundamental in tourism in general. One of the things that the pandemic showed us, with the confinements and isolation, was the need for human interaction. It is present in our parks and attractions, with employees trained to receive every visitor, attending to every need, to live perfect experiences in the parks and attractions.

Is the installed capacity of Brazilian theme parks sufficient to meet present and future demand?

We believe there is room for more parks and attractions because Brazil is a continental country with a large domestic consumer market. In addition, we also receive international visitors. It is worth remembering that some of Brazil’s main postcards are associated with us, such as the Iguaçu National Park, the Sugar Loaf Cable Car, and the Corcovado Train, to name a few. There is a market for more parks and attractions, especially when we think there is a lot of innovation coming.

Star Rio was the first Ferris wheel of this model in Brazil, inaugurated in December 2019. Since then, the one in Balneário Camboriú and the one in Foz do Iguaçu, already opened, but we have the Ferris wheels in São Paulo under construction and the recent announcement of two more in Canela and Olímpia. These are just a few examples of how to expand the installed capacity. We believe that, in tourism, the novelties are complementary, contributing to increasing the permanence of the visitor in the destination.

The SINDEPAT Summit is coming up. What can you say about the event?

It will be a great meeting between national buyers, our partners, the entire industry of parks and attractions, and international and Brazilian suppliers. We have a few booths available in the exhibition area, and the panel grid for the two days of the event is complete. Our event is itinerant and will be held in Gramado due to the significant expansion of the park and ride industry in the region in recent years. Naturally, this will be one of the topics discussed on the first day of the event.

The program is well diversified, with presentations on the importance of content architecture, for example; the importance of data science for the entertainment industry; the importance of Brazilian natural parks and all their potential; the impact of an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) agenda on business and, of course, trends in our industry. We invite everyone to get to know our program on the event’s website. In addition to the program and the exhibition, we will have novelties, such as business rounds and technical visits. We will visit SINDEPAT members in the region for the first time, such as Canela Aerial Cableways, Alpen Park, Acquamotion, and Snowland Gramado.

Are promotions such as the National Day of Joy still on SINDEPAT’s agenda?

The National Day of Joy (Dia Nacional da Alegria – DNA) is not a promotional event, but a social mobilization promoted by SINDEPAT carried out by its affiliates and the National Day of Persons with Disabilities in Parks and Attractions (DNPD). We were two years without being able to carry out the DNA, which already has more than ten editions, but we will do it again next month, between April 25 and 29.

This week, the parks and attractions invite NGOs and associations that serve children in vulnerable situations to visit the projects. The visit is free and full of surprises to make this children’s day very special. In the DNPD, held in December, this invitation is made to NGOs and associations that help people with disabilities, adults, or children. Our parks and attractions welcome these visitors free of charge, with a specially dedicated program. We are very proud of these two events, held for more than ten years.

Would you like to add any relevant content not covered by the questions?

I would like to reaffirm that our sector will continue to grow because that is what we have seen, looking at the investments made in recent years and all that has been projected until 2025. We will continue to be the anchor of several tourist destinations and the creation of new ones throughout Brazil. The maintenance of these investments shows that business people continue to trust in the return of visitors, in the growth of leisure consumption, and the expansion of domestic tourism.

Brazil benefits from a prominent local consumer market, so we saw a return of tourists last year. We know that the recovery started with visits to nearby destinations, on road trips, but many Brazilians have already returned to flying, as aviation data also show. We believe this will continue and expand throughout 2022 and beyond.

With information from Diário do Turismo