Brazil is hoping to boost its international visitor numbers by 1 million next year following the exposure built up during the Fifa World Cup.
Vincente Neto, president of Embartur, the country’s tourist board, said the country’s image and profile had been lifted dramatically this year having hosted “the best World Cup ever”. He said the aim was to continue promoting the benefits of visiting Brazil ahead of its role as host nation for the Olympic Games in 2016.
Speaking during a press conference at World Travel Market, Neto said currently six million visitors are travelling to Brazil but next year he would like to see this grow to seven million, something he believes will be achievable after good publicity during the summer.
Neto told Travel Weekly: “By 2015 as a result of the platform and exposure the country had during the World Cup, we hope to reach seven million international tourists a year. The internal market is much larger at 60 million annual national tourists within the country and we hope to increase vastly on that too.
“During the World Cup there was a question over investment versus economic gain for Brazil. To highlight, there was $14 billion invested into the World Cup and by 2019 the expectation is that the return on investment is of 142 billion Brazilian Reals.
“For the Olympics the investment is around $1.1 billion and the return on that is $51 billion.”
Vinicius Lummertz, secretary of tourism policy for Brazil, said a tourism strategy was being created surrounding the country’s wildlife parks.
He said: “Tourism is still a new industry in Brazil but it is growing at a strong rate. One of the reasons for this is our strategy to host big events, like the World Cup and the Olympic Games. We are currently reaching six million tourists a year, but for us internal tourism is very strong and this internal tourism has grown very steeply inside Brazil.
“We are developing a strategy very carefully around our national parks – Brazil has a lot of potential national parks and conservation areas and this could be a new source of income in the future. Nature will play a more important role in Brazil’s tourism.”
Neto said it was important for the tourist board in Brazil to forge better relationships and connections with airlines and tour operators in destinations such as Europe.
He said talks with the likes of Tui were on going, adding: “We have gained visibility [through the World Cup] and the next step is the sales pitch and the partnerships with airlines and wholesalers.”