RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – More than 80,000 tourists, traveling on 14 ships, will dock at Pier Mauá during Christmas week to attend the New Year’s Eve party in Rio de Janeiro.
On December 31st alone, 20,000 tourists are expected. Once again, there will be a fireworks display at the turn of the year, in Copacabana, Rio’s south zone. The announcement was made to Agência Brasil by Alexandre Gomes, Operations Manager at Mauá Pier.
In the cruise season that began in October and will end in April 2020, 112 moorings of 37 different ships are scheduled, “because several return to Rio de Janeiro more frequently,” he explained. The 2019/2020 season began on October 20th with the arrival of World Explorer, the first cruise ship built in Portugal.
Gomes said this is a growing season because “international cruise shipowners are looking at the Brazilian coast again as a destination option. So we see a very significant increase” in the total number of tourists coming to the city.
The ships traveling around the world and passing through Brazil were increased from 27 in the 2018/2019 season to 37 in the 2019/2020 biennium, 27 of which are foreign ships and ten are domestic.
Eight of them are coming to Rio de Janeiro for the first time. The estimate is of a 15 percent increase in passenger flow, which should add up to 425,000 tourists. “This is a very important milestone for us,” he said.
Traffic
Mauá Pier Operations Manager said the increase in the number of tourists is significant as it injects R$500 million (US$125 million) into Rio’s economy in these six months of the season alone.
“It’s a very significant number for a city and a state that are in such need of this boost. Tourists come back to Rio by sea”. In the last season (2018/2019), the pier recorded 100 moorings, with an average of 380 thousand tourists among passengers and crew.
According to the Pier Operations sector, the 2018/2019 season already showed a 15 percent increase in passengers. For the 2020/2021 season, which will begin in October next year, it is expected that the total number of cruise passengers will grow between ten and 15 percent compared to the current season.
Although the stopover schedule is not yet available, Gomes said the estimate is that growth will continue to reach peak levels in the cruise industry in Brazil.
By 2024, the industry will have launched 100 new ships. “That means there will be ships to meet our demand. The shipping companies are looking back at the Brazilian coast, this is very important,” he said.
The best cruise season for the pier was 2010/2011, with 247 moorings, handling nearly 800,000 tourists, who injected around R$1 billion into the economy. “Little by little, we are picking up this flow, step by step. We are working for it,” he said.
Safety
In a meeting in the last few days, the operations manager of Mauá Pier was praised by shipowners regarding the stopover in Rio de Janeiro.
Despite the city’s reputation for violence, Gomes said that since 2016, in the area of Boulevard Olímpico, in Rio’s port region, and in the historic center, there have been no incidents of passengers’ theft or robbery of ship passengers. “This is very important,” he said.
In the last week of 2019, Mauá Pier receives the Costa Fascinosa on December 27th, the MSC Fantasia on December 28th and the Sovereign on December 29th. On the 30th, three vessels will sail to Copacabana for the fireworks and will be docked at the port: the MSC Musica, the Costa Pacífica, and the Azamara Pursuit.
Customs care
In view of the number of ships and passengers arriving in Rio on cruises, the Federal Treasury explained the customs precautions that must be followed by tourists embarking and disembarking at the Port of Rio.
The head of the Customs Surveillance and Control Service (SEVIG) at the Port of Rio de Janeiro, Ricardo da Fonseca Poppe de Figueiredo, said the items carried in the luggage must be compatible with a tourist trip.
When getting off the ship for a tour in the city, tourists may only carry belongings suitable for the visit. “Tourists will undergo a visual inspection and checking of assets by risk management and, upon definitive landing, passengers must proceed to the luggage inspection queue, after taking their luggage from the shipping company”, he explained.
He also recommended that passengers observe the current limit of US$500 for those carrying overseas purchases in their luggage.
In case of having cash above R$10,000, both in national and foreign currency, cruise passengers must fill out the Electronic Declaration of Travelers’ Goods upon departure from Brazil and also upon arrival.
Source: Agencia Brasil