By Sergio Lima
(Opinion) After more than two years of pandemic-related restrictions, there is great enthusiasm for the resumption of tourism in Brazil. In May, a very representative mark was reached: 1 million foreign visitors had already entered the country with only a tourist visa.
Updating these figures for June, we have even more symbolic results. According to the Federal Police, from January to June this year, we have reached 1,222,536 visitors – double the impact of the entire year 2021, when 596.7 thousand visitors from other countries were here with this type of visa.
This increase means that more money is flowing into the country. This means more employment and income for Brazilians working in this sector. In June alone, of the total 1.8 million new jobs created in the country, 116 thousand were in the tourism sector.
To encourage the return of foreigners, who could come in much greater numbers once the pandemic is contained, Embratur (Brazilian Agency for the Promotion of International Tourism) ran two campaigns in the first half of the year to promote Brazil in the United States: “Brazil is visa-free, come visit!”, which runs until February 2022, and “Visit Brazil.
A WOW Experience,” which began in June. In South America, the “¡Uno, dos, tres, Brasil!” campaign, which runs through February, attracted Chileans, Paraguayans, Uruguayans, and Argentines to the mid-summer season.
In addition to the promotions, the posts broadcast on outdoor media, television, and the Internet generated 1.6 billion impacts (number of views of the campaign posts), with more than 9,000 tickets sold in online travel agencies (Expedia, Skyscanner, and Hotelbeds) to Brazil. This result represents an increase of US$9.4 million in travel to the country, equivalent to approximately R$48.5 million.
New promotional campaigns abroad are planned for the second half of this year. Between September and October, Embratur will present certain pieces to the public in Portugal, Spain, England, and Germany. For Latin America, the launch of the new campaign is scheduled for November.
Embratur, which has the task of joining forces with partner institutions, especially Sebrae, has carried out a series of actions to strengthen the promotion of Brazil abroad. Some examples are the press trips to the main Brazilian destinations with foreign journalists and multipliers, participation in the leading international trade fairs, and the organization of road shows, workshops, and famtours with tour operators, agents, and industry associations.
To give you an idea, participation in the most important international fairs can generate a turnover of over R$ 16.5 million in the year’s first half. Public relations with the foreign press also stand out with an ROI (Return on Investment) of R$ 7.7 million.
With positive results from a wide range of actions, Embratur intends to increase investment in publicity to make the resumption of international tourism as fast and robust as possible.
The big goal is to overcome the hurdle of 6.3 million visitors who came to Brazil in 2019 before the pandemic. With the great attraction of Brazil’s unparalleled natural beauty, the rich and diverse culture of its five regions, and an increasingly developed infrastructure in tourist destinations, information about Brazil arrives competitively abroad.
By comparison, other neighboring countries such as Peru and Colombia have, until recently, invested much more in promoting their destinations.
Embratur is doing more with less and has partnered with fundamental entities in the national tourism industry, celebrating the good news of the post-pandemic recovery.
Monthly data show the recovery of the international air network, the excellent occupancy rate of hotels, and the number of jobs in the sector, which have fully recovered, confirming Brazil’s tourism potential and making everyone optimistic.