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Tourist markets with strong Olympic tradition can officially begin visiting Brazil before, during and after the 2016 Rio Olympics and Paralympics. Starting 1 June, the period of unilateral visa exemption for Australian, Canadian, American and Japanese tourists begin.
The decision should bring more than the originally planned number of tourists during the period of the games period (between 300,000 and 500,000 people), injecting USD$ 1.7 billion into the Brazilian economy, according to the projections of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
According to the Joint Ordinance No. 216, published in December 2015, citizens of these four countries are guaranteed visa free entry between June 1st and September 18th, with a limited stay of 90 days from the date of first entry in the country.
The exemption is directed towards international visitors who come to Brazil exclusively for tourism purposes. The visitor does not need to prove that they have tickets to attend any Olympics event.
The Brazilian Tourism Board (Embratur) has done many actions abroad to highlight the invitation to international visitors to go to Brazil in 2016 and enjoy the postcards perfect sceneries in Rio de Janeiro and other Brazilian cities. Some of these actions include: participating in international trade shows, training travel agents, digital strategies, inflight magazine campaigns, advertising at airports and the launch of the new Visit Brasil website.
“Embratur has made a strong effort to share the news about the visa waiver measure, in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in these four countries. We believe in consistent returns,” says José Antonio Parente, Embratur’s interim president.
According to him, in Japan, for example, the recent interest generated by the local press – after the presence of an Embratur technical team in Tokyo – generated record sales of tickets for the Olympic Games. “The major Japanese travel agencies have already released almost all the sale of their tour packages,” said Parente.
More than 53,000 tickets sold in Australia
Until April, the 2016 Rio Organizing Committee reported that Australia ranks 5th in the ranking of that guaranteed greater volume of visitor entries for the first Olympics in the history of South America. Australian tourists have already bought more than 53,000 tickets. According to Embratur’s Executive Coordinator of Intelligence and Tourist Promotion, Bruno Reis, the number of Australian tourists increases considerably during major international events. “In the year of the World Cup, when 67,000 Australians were in Brazil, there was an increase of 33% over the previous period,” emphasized Bruno, who attended recently Latin America Travel Week, the largest tourism fair in Sydney and Melbourne, to publicize the visa waiver with the Australian specialized trade selling travel to Latin America.
Training for 90 North American operators
In the city of Los Angeles, Embratur promoted the Brazil Seminar, training 90 tourism professionals. Travel agents received, in February, information on the visa waiver program for American citizens during the Olympic Games, as well as information about major destinations in Brazil, such as Rio de Janeiro, Foz do Iguaçu, Manaus, Salvador and Pantanal. The United States is the 2nd largest source of tourists to Brazil: in 2015, 575,796 million American tourists visited the country.
Canadian Travel Trade FAM Tour To See Preparation For The Games
Embratur also brought 11 members of the Canadian travel trade in early May, to get to know the preparations for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Travel agents of the major Canadian tour operators had the opportunity to participate in a professional development travel tour program and they met with the Discover Brazil Committee, in Rio de Janeiro. Six of the participants also participated in the Destination Brazil travel show in Porto de Galinhas (PE), an event focused on promoting business in the Northeast, and promoting the attractions of the states around that region.
Source australia.etbtravelnews.com
