US Travel to Brazil Hikes 39 Percent After Visa Waiver

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The number of Americans booking flights to Brazil has jumped 39 percent since the government of President Jair Bolsonaro waived a visa requirement for US citizens in June, according to its official tourism agency EMBRATUR, which is devising plans to attract even more visitors.

“Brazil is much more than the land of ‘caipirinhas’ and tiny bikinis. We want to focus on ecotourism and our vast natural resources, from the Amazon rainforest to the Pantanal wetlands,” Embratur President Gilson Machado told Reuters on Thursday, January 30th.

Machado said he spoke to US airlines last week about adding direct flights to more cities in Brazil.

With an annual budget that was increased by Bolsonaro to US$120 million (R$480 million) from just US$8 million, Embratur will launch a publicity campaign to sell Brazil as a new country – and a much safer one.

Violent crime in Brazilian cities dropped by 25 percent in Bolsonaro’s first year in office and public security has been reinforced at tourist hot spots, Machado said.

Safety concerns, along with inconvenient flights, poor infrastructure, and high costs have long held back Brazil’s tourism industry. International tourism represents just 2.5 percent of Brazilian export revenue — compared with 7.5 percent in Argentina and nearly 17 percent in Uruguay, according to World Bank data and the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Brazil eliminated tourist visa requirements for visitors from the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan in June and is planning to do the same for India and China to boost tourism.

Embratur hopes to turn Brazil into a global scuba diving destination, with 1,200 junked boats, vehicles and planes to be deposited in the sea to create artificial reefs.

Machado will also work on Bolsonaro’s pet project, which has drawn ire from environmentalists: developing a “Brazilian Cancun” in Angra dos Reis, a bay near Rio de Janeiro dotted with more than 300 islands and hundreds of pristine beaches.

Machado said it would require the removal of “excessive bureaucracy” to clear local and federal environmental hurdles.

Another proposal to draw more American visitors is financing a feature film that would broadcast Brazil’s natural beauty, he said.

Source: Reuters