By Jay Forte, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – According to the Ministry of Tourism in Brazil, the number of international events in Brazil grew four hundred percent in ten years, from 61 to 315 events per year. While much of this was driven by mega-events in Rio de Janeiro and other large cities, officials also reported that the growth of events took place in 54 Brazilian cities, showing an increase of 154 percent from the 22 municipalities recorded a decade ago.
The data was announced during the meeting of the Trade and Events Industry held yesterday (August 30th) in Rio de Janeiro, attended by authorities and executives from various business tourism segments.
According to government news sources, the meeting aimed to discuss new directions for the sector and shows Rio de Janeiro’s potential for international events after the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The president of the Brazilian Tourism Institute (EMBRATUR), Vinicius Lummertz said the transformation of Rio de Janeiro for the Games, which includes the construction of new hotels, museums, convention centers, infrastructure in terms of urban mobility, in addition to fixing the Rio brand in foreign markets, gave a “new face” to the state capital city.
In his opinion, this favors the search for more tourists all year through promotion and organization of events. “This is a new economy, service economy, where Rio stands out.” To Lummertz, it is in the area of services that will create more jobs in the coming years. “We have to bet on it, that means new opportunities for our young people.”
According to the reported data, the events market shows an average of fourteen percent growth per year in Brazil, with movement of R$209.2 billion and features a total of R$48.69 billion in taxes collected. The sector generates around 7.5 million new direct jobs, indirect and outsourced.
Lummertz said, “[EMBRATUR] works to attract international events around the world, in partnership with states and cities. We understand that Rio de Janeiro, in particular, is now a city that has a lot of capacity for tourism, with more than double the number of hotels and event infrastructure.”
For him, Barra da Tijuca, in Zona Oeste, (West Zone), where the Olympic Park and much of the city’s hotels are located, will turn into a place of attraction for business tourists and events, “which are those [tourists] that leave more resources in Brazil. This type of tourism is the most profitable of all.”