Minister of Tourism Brazil | Tourism Sector in Brazil

Interview with Gastão Vieira, Minister of Tourism of Brazil

How do you assess Brazilian tourism industry outlook, and what are the major drivers of the industry?

We are definitely in a very favourable time, for a conjunction of reasons. First of all, the Brazilian Economy has grown a lot in importance, in the international scenario, and is now quite strong. Even when the world has begun to suffer the consequences of the 2008 crises, we were able to keep the stability, mainly for the domestic market. The living conditions have improved for a great number of Brazilian families, who now have more access to credit. After reaching out for some basic goods – new refrigerators, stoves and cars, for instance – and renovating their homes, this upcoming social class is getting access to travelling, what was previously considered an activity available only for the wealthy. So, our domestic market represents around 85% of the whole touristic activity in the country now – what is good because it makes us not so fragile and dependent from the international inflow. For all this, we are getting great investments, mainly from big hotel chains that find here promising possibilities, of a constant growing market, in a country that is about to host some of the biggest and most important sporting and cultural events – as Rio +20, the Confederation Cup, the World Cup, the Olympic Games, among many others.

What aspects of Brazilian tourism do you want to promote this year and what are the markets you would like to focus on this year?

Diversity is a characteristic of the Brazilian tourism what makes the country a great destination for all kinds of visitors. We are keeping on working to promote Brazil in traditional markets – such as Europe, the U.S. and Asia. But we are also focusing our promotion in other South American countries. We aim to reach 10 million visitors per year in 2020 and, to reach this mark, it will be necessary to attract at least 7 million South Americans, then.

Brazil has been successful in attracting global sporting events, what remains the main challenge for you? Could Brazil become the victim of its own success?

The main challenges for the global sporting events are basically the ones we face in a country that is growing very, very fast. Infrastructure was a concern previously, when the domestic demand has gone up, and is a concern now. But the government is working hard on it. We believe that, despite of eventual difficulties, the cup and the games in Brazil are going to be a big hit.

How is the ministry tackling the question of security for the tourists?

In recent researches based on the international demand the Ministry of Tourism of Brazil has carried on, security has never been pointed as an issue. In 2010, over 96% of the foreign tourists have stated they want visit Brazil again and 85% of them have said the trip to the country has either matched or overcome their expectations.

What is you strategy and vision to promote and develop less developed regions of Brazil? Do you feel tourism might serve as a motor of socio-economic development for certain regions?

We are convinced that Tourism is becoming one of the most important industries in Brazil, in a short time. Brazil has selected 65 destinations that we consider to be able to induct touristic development in their surroundings. In these destinations Brazil concentrate its efforts and investments, in order to prepare them to reach an international quality standard, both in services and infrastructure. These quality standards tend to disseminate in the area the destinations are inserted in. This strategy has been quite effective. Besides, we have encouraged and invested and several communitarian based projects, in different part of the country, as part of a strategy of using tourism as an important development tool.

Picture credit: Moreira Neto