Tourism in Maceio: Ritz Lagoa da Anta Urban Resort

Interview with Pietro Coelho, Manager at Ritz Lagoa da Anta Urban Resort

Let’s first talk about Maceio in Alagoas. What does Maceio have to offer for foreign visitors? Many Europeans or Americans might only know about Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia or Sao Paulo. What does Alagoas have to offer?

In my opinion and also according to many tourists who stay in our Hotel Group, Maceio is the most beautiful city in Brazil. Rio de Janeiro is obviously another beautiful city but Maceio has many things to offer. Firstly the gastronomy, Maceio really is a culinary capital; we have such diversity in restaurants and food. The welcome given by our staff is also excellent; people from Alagoas really know how to welcome tourists properly. For the size of the city we have many shopping malls. For 1 million inhabitants we have 6 shopping malls. We offer so many different types of activities for example, a fishing trip on a jangada boat, buggies, jet skis, speed boats, etc. I think all this along with our beautiful beaches is what makes Maceio stand out as a destination.

What will be the challenges for Alagoas in the future?

We need more investment to improve the infrastructure. We are blessed with such natural beauty but we need to improve the infrastructure to be able to make the most of our potential. We need to invest in basic sanitation and transport. We are open to having foreign investment on this level, with partnerships with the government, as we need to develop this area which is a little bit lacking in our city. However overall, I believe the pros outweigh the cons in our capital.

You have many hotels all over Brazil, can you explain a bit the history of your group?

The Ritz Group started with my great grandfather Cesar Coelho, he opened the first Ritz hotel called The Ritz Plaza, Juiz de Fora, which is in Minas Gerais. The hotel started as a small guesthouse and then grew and grew and finally became one of the top hotels in that city in Minas Gerais.

Later on, when my great grandfather died, my grandfather took over the company. The hotel kept on evolving and became renowned all over Brazil. My father left Juiz de Fora to go to Rio de Janeiro and began to look for property. At that time, about 25 years ago, Copacabana was the hotspot for all the tourists. My father found a building in Leblon, which today has one of top 5 most expensive real estate m² in the world. In this building he opened a hotel as part of the Ritz Group.

After 10 years living in Rio de Janeiro and an attempt to kidnap him, he decided to leave Rio and come to the Northeast to look for new prospects. He came to Maceio and fell in in love with the beautiful surroundings here and decided to stay. He bought a hotel called Hotel Maceio and transformed it into the Ritz Praia, obviously complementing it with everything necessary to attain the qualities of the Ritz Group. After some time he opened another hotel, the Ritz Plazamar.

As the hotel sector developed, we decided it was time to build a larger hotel with better facilities capable of taking in more customers. We built The Ritz Lagoa da Anta, which is our only 5 star hotel in Brazil. It has excellent facilities: a spa, swimming pools, tennis courts, mini golf, etc. All our apartments have beautiful architectural styles, we have themed areas based on ecology and nature, and there are areas with Thai and Italian architecture.

We also have 2 very fine restaurants. One is in a café, which is where you have breakfast and those on half board can have their meals. We also have a French bistro called Le Sururu, which has an excellent reputation and offers a fusion of local and French cuisine. It has won prizes from the Guia 4 Rodas. The restaurant is also part of the Boa Lembrança Association whereby you can choose a plate which has been specially decorated and you can use it as art for your home.

How large is the Ritz Group now?

Today the Ritz Group has 9 hotels. Five hotels are in Maceio, along with the Ritz Suites which was inaugurated 6 months ago. It offers 336 rooms with 5 star quality facilities, 4 star quality service and prices of a 3 to 4 star hotel. This hotel is aimed at the emerging classes in Brazil, which are growing all the time. People are starting to have much more disposable income and the hotel is aimed at this market. There is also the hotel in Rio de Janeiro and 3 in Juiz de Fora.

What are your goals for the future?

From mid-2013, we are going to start the construction of a new hotel in Maceio. It will offer 5 star facilities with amazing apartments that are great for families. Each apartment has two double beds and it will be next to the Ritz Lagoa da Anta. The residents of the new hotel will be able to use all the facilities of Ritz Lagoa da Anta, the mini golf, swimming pools, tennis courts and even a conference centre where we are able to attend up to 2,500 people in simultaneous transmission.

Could you tell us more about the conference centre?

We have 7 different rooms and every room is named after an important figure from the city; authors, artists, etc. We have a conference complex which can attend up to 2,500 people in simultaneous transmission. We have an auditorium for 700 people and we also have rooms adjoined that can all be opened to create one large space with room for 1,500 people. We also have rooms on the floor above and below which are for smaller meetings.

To conclude, what would be your message to a foreign investor or a tourist interested in coming here or to Brazil in general?

I think what makes Maceio stand out by far is its natural beauty; I believe Maceio is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The people here are very welcoming and hardworking. Hiring a workforce here is cheap. I think an investor coming to Maceio can be assured of his success because of the excellent location and the good, cheap workforce. I am also sure that the government and the Governor are ready to give certain incentives to foreign investors because we need investment in various areas and industries to generate income for our capital city.

As for tourists thinking of coming to Maceio, I would like to say come to Maceio because it is stunning and I am sure you will be amazed by our natural beauty and the friendliness of our people.