Print Preview : Mr. Walfrido dos Mares Guia Minister of Tourism Brazil

Mr. Walfrido dos Mares Guia Minister of Tourism Brazil

TravelDailyNews: What is your tourism plan for 2007 and what is your forecast for the course of Brazilian tourism in the coming years?

Walfrido dos Mares Guia: Over the last four years, the Brazilian Government accomplished a series of decisive changes for tourism in the Country. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on the first day of his first mandate, in January of 2003, created the Ministry of Tourism, which provided the correct course for planning public policies and the application of financial proceeds. Tourism became a priority as an economic activity and social transformation. All this was fundamental so that the sector would have the consistent positive growth results that it has been reaching. But the work has just begun. The document Turismo no Brasil: 2007 – 2010 gives the exact dimension of the thinking of the tourist trade about the public policies over the last four years and what is expected by the end of the decade. The sector approves of what has been done and points to ways of going forward. In the next years, we hope to grow even more, place Brazil among the twenty major tourist destinations in world and induce Brazilians to come to know their own country better. It is neither a Ministry nor a Government priority; but of all those that make tourism happen in Brazil, reaffirming it as a social good that generates jobs, distributes revenues, and collaborates for the development of the Country.

TDN: What kind of problems does the tourism industry in Brazil face today and what has the Ministry done to ensure a steady growth rate?

W. G.: Today, tourism is going through a revolutionary moment, for it is the first time that it is managed with focus and has possession of bold plans. We are on the road to success and growth enhancement, but we still need to confront two bottlenecks: the first is that investments must grow at a very fast pace; the second is to increase the availability of seats on international flights, so we can attract tourists that come from the United States, Europe and Asia, who can only arrive in Brazil by plane.
A series of actions allowed the growth of the sector: the exclusive Ministry; its own budget, which increased significantly in these four years of the Tourism Ministry; a National Plan, with objectives, goals, strategies, a decentralized management model, which benefits all the sectors involved in all the regions of Brazil; the exclusive responsibility of Embratur (Brazilian Tourism Board) to take care of the promotion of Destination Brazil in the international market; marketing actions. Ultimately, there are many changes which give rise to exceptional qualitative gains which results, consequently, in consistent growth of the Brazilian tourism activity indicators.
I believe that there exists in Brazil today a solid movement working for the sustained development of tourism. This work has been conducted to show all the diversity of the Brazilian tourist product, disclose new destinations, enrich the different segments of tourism and constantly act in the qualification of services.

TDN: The United States contributes a great deal to your inbound traffic. How much do US travelers spend, and what is the purpose of their visit to Brazil?

W. G.: Americans tourists are one of the target markets we are working on, for they do travel a great deal internationally, and yet Brazil is not very well known as a possible – and cheaper – destination, compared to other distant regions such as Europe, Africa or the pacific islands, for example. Because of that, the number of American visitors in Brazil is increasing: in 2005 we have received 793.559 American tourists, a number 12, 4% greater than the one registered the year before – 705.993. According to the most recent survey on the profile of international tourists that come to Brazil, made by the Economical Research Institute Foundation (Fipe) at University of São Paulo for the Ministry of Tourism and Brazilian Tourism Board (Embratur), the main reason that brings Americans to visit Brazil is business, conventions or events – 34,9% -; followed by visiting friends and relatives – 32,5% -; leisure – 28,1%; studies – 1,7% - and others – 2,8%. This survey, called “Demanda Turística Internacional 2004/2005 – (International Touristic Demand 2004/2005)”, also shows that their average daily expenses are up to US$ 104,30 if it’s a leisure trip; US$ 138,04 for business trips; US$ 63,36 for other reasons and US$ 89,65 in general.

TDN: More and more Europeans and Asians are visiting your country. What are your initiatives regarding the European and Asia-Pacific markets?

W. G.: We have developed, in Brazil, a comprehensive marketing plan regarding the international market called the Watercolour Plan (Plano Aquarela, in Portuguese). According to this plan, since 2003 we keep permanent contact with priority markets from the European public, through the Brazilian tourism offices (EBTs, in portuguese), presently in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, United Kingdom and Germany. Those branches are also responsible for attending and relating with countries within their area of influence.
For the Asia/Japan area there is also an EBT that works together with other Mercosur countries and also in partnership with Jica, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency. We also promote Brazilian products, services and tourist destinations by having a presence at international tourism fairs, either institutionally or along with co-sponsors from the national trade - most of those fairs are in Europe, such as BTL, FIT, Fitur, WTM and Jata, in Japan, and the Arabian Travel Market, at the United Arab Emirates -; by participating in international commercial fairs, with a partnership with Apex/Brasil; in Europe we have launched the campaign “Brazil, be a fan”, during the years of 2005 and 2006 in Portugal, France and Germany. As a matter of fact, Germany got other promotional actions during the World Cup; and Portugal, during the Rock in Rio show, in Lisbon.
Both Europe or Japan/Asia are served by other programs, such as seminars “Discover Brazil”, trips from the “Brazil Caravan” and the bringing of foreign journalists through “Press Trips”. Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom also had seminars and business rounds consecutively, in different cities, within the “Road shows” program. For those markets, other promotional actions are made, on a random basis, about events that take place in Brazil. Portugal and Spain have had, in 2006, teams at the program “Online Training – travel agents specialist in Brazil”. Other different promotional actions made by the EBTs or with their support also complete the scheme.

TDN: What are your estimations for the total tourism expenditures in Brazil during 2006 and what is the forecast for 2007?

W. G.: According with the numbers raised by the Central Bank, we will close 2006 in the range of US$4.3 to US$4.4 billion spent by foreign tourists in our country, almost half a million dollars more than in 2005, when we recorded US$3.9 billion. This with the exception that we estimate that at least 25 to 30% of this total would be spent as pocket money, and would break away from the numbers raised by the Central Bank, and would significantly increase this number. For 2007 our forecast is that the total reaches US$5.0 billion, this without relying on the percentage not raised, of which I spoke of above.

TDN:According to international statistics, business travelers spend more during their stay in one place. What are your plans for the meetings industry and convention tourism?

In Brazil, these two industries, as you put it, are not separate: the convention sector is one of the most important segments in our promotion strategy of Brazil as a tourist destination abroad. To better explain what I've already cited above, from 2003, when the exclusive ministry for tourism was created, EMBRATUR, Brazilian tourism institute, began to have its focus uniquely directed towards promotion, marketing and support for the commercialization of the destinations, services and Brazilian tourism products abroad. Ever since, they’ve worked towards the consolidation of Brazil as a competitive international destination. It has as a guide to its action programs the Plano Aquarela - Marketing Turistico Internacional, also already mentioned. As a result of this effort, the tourist business and events segment have shown gradual growth. It is already the main reason for the coming to Brazil of 29,1% of foreign visitors (2005). In the previous year, it had been pointed out as the reason for the coming of 28,7% of these visitors. The business tourist also makes more frequent use of hotels and air transportation, injecting more foreign currency into the economy. Their spending per capita, per day, in 2005, remained in at ballpark figure of US$ 112, while the leisure tourist remained at approximately US$ 82. Moreover, international acknowledgment of the role fulfilled by Brazil is growing: According with the last and final report of ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association), Brazil captured six positions and shows up in 8th place in the raking of countries by the number of participants in international events, with a total of 130.265 persons (including foreigners and Brazilians) in the events that the country hosted in 2005. Whereas in the rankings of countries by the number of international events accomplished, Brazil occupies 11th place. There were 145 engagements in 32 Brazilian cities.

TDN: What is the level of cooperation between the public and the private sector in Brazil? What actions have you undertaken to attract tourism investments in Brazil?

W. G.: In Brazil, the Government defines the policies for tourism and the entrepreneur makes tourism happen. Actually, there is a strong bond among the governmental domains, private, academic and nongovernmental agencies, working in partnership so that tourism reaches a prominent place in the international scenario and among Brazilians themselves. We are exceptionally better than we were four years ago, when we reactivated the work of the National Council of Tourism, of which representatives from all these cited domains take part, and started to meet quarterly to discuss, analyze and make combined decisions. We can progress to projects of PPPs (Partnership Public-Private), as a possibility of new investments in the sector.
Regarding attracting investments we have multiple actions, performed by a specialized department, dedicated for just for that purpose, the one Promoting Investments, linked to our Secretary of Programs for the Development of Tourism. I distinguish, among these actions, a work of incentive, together with Government banks – more precisely Caixa Econômica Federal (savings bank), Bank of Brasil, BNDES (National Bank of Social and Economic Development), Bank of Amazônia and Bank of Nordeste – to stimulate the promotion of actions such as the creation of new lines of investments, including foreign companies. We are still working on the appropriation of existing lines of investments, as an example, the opening of exceptions for the hotel sector, which had extended terms on installments and shortage of loans performed through constitutional funds. We also conduct events where the target-audience are the credit analyst of the financial institutions, explaining the true risk factors of tourism, how the market is today, how to perform feasibility analysis, all done to facilitate the approval of projects; we participate in events in Brazil and abroad, propagating the products of the official banks and which ones might give leverage to the work of the investor. Mainly at the fairs in Berlin, in March, and New York, in June. We also developed some studies which allowed us to demand, before the Ministry of Development, Industry and Commerce and the internal revenue service, actions which would allow exoneration of investments in the hotel sector, with the purpose of reducing the time of return on investments and to increase the internal rate of return. We soon expect an authorization from the federal government in regards to this.

TDN: Infrastructure is highly important for any country trying to promote tourism business in its area. Is the current infrastructure in Brazil sufficient or is there substantially more to be done in order to attract more international tourists?

W. G.: There is no competitiveness without quality and one of the priorities of the Tourism Ministry is investment in the infrastructure, which still is not the way it needs to be. There was a significant increase of financial resources for projects of infrastructure and also of professional and entrepreneurial qualifications. More recently, the Brazilian States defined their priorities in these areas and the Ministry sent them to the congressman and senators responsible for the approval of the resource budget. There are 500 demands of infrastructures for the organization of tourist itineraries of the Country. Tourism has really counted on the support of the National Congress and will count on them one more time in 2007 to structure, amplify, diversify and characterize the tourist proposal.

TDN: What are the main obstacles (if any) for the Ministry in driving its policy? Do you feel that the funds that you are receiving from the government are insufficient?

W. G.: As I said, the biggest challenge is to give continuity to the accomplishments gained and go forward in the construction and execution of the policies that would place the country among the major destinations in the world for the Brazilians, and foreigners that wish to visit us. Never has the country worked so hard in favor of tourism as in the last four years. Including the National Parliament, which approves the public budget. Never has tourism had so much budget resources. In 2003, the budget was only R$135 million. We reached the fourth year of existence of the Tourism Ministry with a budget of R$1.5 billion. This is an extraordinary growth in resources, which was also possible because the country’s economy restructured itself.