Chelsea Football Club manager Luiz Felipe Scolari joined World Travel and Tourism Council leaders as they unveiled the host city for the WTTC’s 2009 summit on World Travel Market’s opening day.
The council’s Global Travel and Tourism Summit will be held in the Brazilian resort of Florianopolis on May 15-16.
Scolari appeared alongside WTTC president Jean-Claude Baumgarten, Santa Catarina state governor Luis Henrique da Silveira and the head of Brazilian tourism organisation Embratur, Jeanine Pires.
Baumgarten said: “It is more critical than ever for public and private sectors to forge close partnerships to ensure the long-term prosperity of travel and tourism in these challenging economic times, when it is almost impossible to predict short-term trends.”
Florianopolis is a major resort in the southern state of Santa Catarina, which is home to half the remaining Atlantic forest in Brazil.
Da Silveira said: “We are delighted to enter this agreement to enhance the role of travel and tourism in developing sustainable economies.”
Pires added: “Brazil is not only one of the world’s fastest-growing tourism source markets, but has recorded double-digit percentage growth in international tourism receipts for the past four years.”
* More WTM 2008 coverage at travelweekly.co.uk/wtm2008