TravelDailyNews: What are EMBRATUR initiatives to raise global awareness of Brazil’s tourism product?

Jeanine Pires: In order to describe EMBRATUR’s initiatives, it is important first to understand its mission. At the time of its creation, on November 18, 1966, EMBRATUR’s main objective was to foster the tourist activity, creating conditions for the stimulation of employment, generation of income, and development in the whole country. Since January, 2003, with the institution of the Ministry of Tourism, EMBRATUR’s work concentrates on the promotion, marketing, and support of the commercialization of the Brazilian products, services and tourist destinations abroad.

With the purpose of analysing all the tourist options in Brazil and to make them appealing to the international market, a comprehensive marketing plan was developed by EMBRATUR. The Watercolour Plan (Plano Aquarela in Portuguese) is our guideline for the Brazilian Tourism over the next few years. The plan is anchored by a comprehensive diagnostic study that provided us key findings, such as tourist preferences, reasons for coming back, etc. We then used those key findings to develop marketing and communication priorities such as focus audiences and markets as well as tourism segments or circuits. The five key tourism segments that we constantly promote are: Sun and Beach, Sports, Ecotourism, Culture, and Business and Events.

Awareness and communication is our primary goal. Presence at international tourism fairs and promoting business events, for instance, are major activities to create awareness. Activities ranging from seminars, E-learning and FAM trips focused on trade professionals, to advertising and press trips to Brazil help communicate the many Brazilian options to the public all over the world. We also must stress the creation of the Brazil Brand, which provides an image of both the country’s tourism industry and of its product export potential in foreign markets. On the international market EMBRATUR already uses Brazil Brand in all its advertising, supporting, and promotional programs of Brazilian tourist destinations, products, and services.

TDN: What are your estimations for 2006 figures in tourist arrivals and tourism receipts in Brazil? What is the percentage of the tourism business in Brazil’s economy?

J. P.: We estimate something around 5 million foreign tourists, who should generate exchange values estimated by the Brazilian Central Bank as almost US$ 4.4 billion. However, the income (including unofficial expenses that are not included in the calculations of the Central Bank) should reach US$ 6 billion.

Businesses and Events Tourism represent something around 30% of the whole activity in Brazil. Specifically in terms of the International receptive, it corresponded to 29.1% of the 5.4 million foreigners that visited us in 2005. Since that tourist had an average expenditure of US$ 913.00 per trip, according to the “Demanda Turística Internacional 2004/2005” (2004/2005 International Tourist Demand) survey, we get to the figure of approximately US$ 1.424 million in exchange values for the country by the segment.

TDN: Can you give us the profile of the traveller who visits your country? What is the percentage of leisure-business traveller?

J. P.: According to a recent study called ‘Character and Dimensions of International Tourism in Brazil – 2004-2005’, carried out by the Economical Research Institute Foundation (FIPE) at University of Sao Paulo for the Ministry of Tourism and EMBRATUR, tourists who come to Brazil from other countries have been quite faithful: more than 96% of the visitors declare the intention of coming back; an average of 60% of them have been to the country more than once and the vast majority has a positive evaluation of both the basic and tourist infrastructure. The number of travellers increases every year and visitations have been becoming more and more diversified, that is, every time more and different cities are included in their itineraries. Finally, they have also spent more.

Between 2004 and 2005, the arrival of foreign tourists increased 11.78% - from 4.7 million to 5.3 tourists. Leisure leads the results as their main motivation for coming to Brazil, although business and events, and visits to friends and relatives have increased their shares in the total figures. In 2005, 44.4% of all foreign visitors in Brazil sought leisure, whereas 29.1% came on business, and 26.5% had other motivations.

In the leisure category, the South region was the most popular one, due to the great number of tourists that come from neighbouring countries in South America, especially Argentina. The most visited cities are Foz do Iguassu, in the state of Paraná, and Rio de Janeiro. In the segments of business and events, and other motivations, the Southeast region is ahead the others, mainly the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

The increase in tourism for reasons of business and events greatly accounts for the leap of 10 positions Brazil had in the ranking of countries for international events: between 2002 and 2005, according to the ICCA – International Congress & Convention Association –, Brazil moved from the 21st to the 11th position.

The research also concluded that tourists are now better informed about routes within the country and spend more: in 2004, each leisure tourist left an average of US$ 58 per day in Brazil, but in 2005, the average expenditure increased to US$ 81.9. The increase was also significant among those who have travelled for business: from US$ 98 to US$ 112.3 per day. Other important results of the research refer to the tourists’ satisfaction: 88% of the leisure visitors said that their expectations had been either entirely fulfilled or had even been surpassed; and among those who had been to Brazil for business reasons, the percentage was 85.3%.

TDN: Where do Brazilians travel and for what purpose?

J. P.: According to the study “Character and Dimensions of Domestic Tourism in Brazil’ carried out in 2006, only 3.9% of the Brazilian tourists travel abroad. Nearly 9.5% make a ‘routine trip’ to the same destination in Brazil, with a monthly frequency or at least 10 times a year. An average of 38.5% of them makes domestic trips. In this type of trip, 87.5% of the Brazilian people travel to our destinations for leisure.

Those tourists are drawn to Brazil’s natural beauty because of its world-class beaches and breathtaking landscapes as well as the country’s rich and diverse cultural options. Almost 53% of the Brazilian tourists claim that visiting friends and relatives is the most positive reason for travelling in Brazil, while 41.2% seek its famous sunny beaches, and 13.8% look for cultural tourism. Ecotourism has also been growing and Brazil has great potential in that area, with its tropical weather, National Parks, and, of course, the largest tropical forest on the planet – the Amazon forest. The area that corresponds to most emissive tourists is the Southeast, and the area that most receives tourists is the Northeast. The other Brazilian regions have somewhat of a balance between the emission and the reception of tourists.

TDN: According to your opinion what trends are going to drive Brazil’s tourism in 2007?

J. P.: Brazil should continue strong in the Leisure segment. It should also gain increasing prominence in the Businesses and Events Tourist, and in the ranking of the ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association). Today we are ranked as the 11th destination for international events in the world. In 2002, we ranked 21st.

I also believe that the Country will consolidates itself as raising in the World both in incomes and in international visitors in 2007. Mainly in incomes, for it has been receiving a foreign tourist from a higher socioeconomic level and, thus, of a higher average expenditure.

TDN: In what fields are you going to focus on for Brazil’s tourism plan in 2007?

J. P.: In 2007, we will continue following the guidelines of our plan of international tourist marketing, the Plano Aquarela (Watercolour Plan). That was introduced in January of 2005, and now it is beginning its second stage, when it is updated. From that, we will have a better indication of which markets to prioritize in terms of resources and tools of international promotion. We have also verticalised the identified promotion segments for the work abroad - Sun and Beach, Ecotourism, Sports, Culture, and Businesses and Events - in specific niches.

The Plano Aquarela was the first marketing plan for international tourism in the history of the Country. It started being designed in 2004, after the creation of the Ministry of Tourism and the directing of EMBRATUR’s focus exclusively for the international promotion of the Brazil Destination. Three surveys, with more than 6 thousand people in 18 countries, served as the base for its formulation, which had the coordination of the Chias Marketing Company, an international reference in tourism marketing.

From that point on, we have segmented the tourist products, defined priority target-markets, created the Brazil Brand (the international tourist identity of the Country’s tourism and exportation features), and remodelled the stands in tourism fairs all over the world. Finally, since 2005, absolutely every single initiative by EMBRATUR - and many actions of our partners, both from the government and from the private initiative – has been taken in the light of the Plano Aquarela.

Now it is in the middle of its reformulation phase. It is time to analyze and evaluate the planned and performed actions from 2005 and 2006, compare goals and results. And that means carrying out a new survey among the tourists that come to the Country, too, measuring the awareness of the Brazil Brand and of the promotional actions implemented in each target-market.

When we have the results in our hands, we will formulate new strategies of products per market for the period between 2007 and 2010, detailing them in a new operational plan and breaking them in recommendations for the actuation of the Federal Units.

TDN: What kind of problems does Brazil’s tourism face today and what solutions do you suggest?

J. P.: Brazil has enormous socioeconomic challenges and the government has been working firmly to overcome them. The Country has strengthened itself to move ahead.

In tourism, the expansion of the air access is in the agenda. We are working to ensure a greater number of connections between Brazil and the international market. We have articulated partnerships with air companies and we have intermediated the contact with the Brazilian authorities so that there may be an increase in such connections.

Another issue indicated by the Plano Aquarela is the low level of knowledge from Brazil abroad. The Internet - through sites for specific publics and the on-line training of travel agents abroad, for example – have been one of our main tools to enhance the knowledge of our destinations, products, and tourist services in the international market.

TDN: Do you feel that are more to be done in Latin America in order the tourism industry to grow in faster rates and what kind of actions do you propose?

J. P.: Each country in Latin America positions itself individually in relation to its markets. However, when it comes to working a long haul destination, the strategy should always be the one of joining efforts among the countries of the block and making a joint and articulated promotion.

An example of such is our Office of Mercosul Promotion in Japan. It is an advanced unit for the joint promotion of the Mercosul countries in that country, in a partnership with the JICA (Japanese Agency of International Cooperation).

It is evident that, for a Japanese tourist to leave his/her so-called “area of comfort” and look for a distant destination, he/she needs to have a varied offer in more than one country. Starting from that strategy, we have developed joint actions among the countries, such as fam trips and press trips, which, respectively, bring professionals of tourism and journalists to locally know the tourist infrastructure of destinations in Brazil and in other Mercosul countries.