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World Tourism Organization opens regional office in Rio de Janeiro

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) opened a regional office in Rio de Janeiro this Thursday (the 14th) to boost the sector across the entire American continent. The body, which is linked to the United Nations (UN), is headquartered in Madrid, Spain, and has only one other regional office, located in Saudi Arabia.

The new headquarters in Brazil is the result of negotiations between the federal government and the UNWTO, concluded with the signing of an agreement on October 19, at the organization’s 25th General Assembly, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Thursday’s event was attended by the UNWTO Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili, the president of Embratur, Marcelo Freixo, and the Minister of Tourism, Celso Sabino.

“There is a whole joint effort to improve our indicators. We receive on average 6 million tourists a year. There is a consensus that this number is very small compared with other countries in the world, and considering Brazil’s potential,” said Sabino.

“The UNWTO recognizes that South America is a little-visited place and understands the importance of creating this office to discuss tourism policy, professional training, academic education and attracting investment. This space will design the new tourism model we hope to have going forward,” the minister added.

According to him, the country is expected to end 2023 with more than 106 million Brazilians traveling within the national territory. In addition, it should surpass the mark of 6 million foreign tourists and the 30 billion reais they spent in Brazil. To improve these figures and attract more people, the government understands that it must tackle certain challenges, such as public safety.

“The government recognizes the importance of investment in this area. It has been doing its part and understands that an appropriate way to combat violence, beyond a visible police presence, is through the proper distribution of income, in programs such as Bolsa Família. And this is already being reflected in various parts of Brazil with a reduction in violence indicators,” he said.

Freixo believes that direct investment in the tourism sector will also help, in the opposite direction, to combat the country’s main problems.

“Safety is a problem, transportation is a problem, qualified information in a foreign language is a problem. These are issues that tourism helps to overcome. The more tourists we bring in, the more we improve safety. Tourism is what will help us. That is how it was in Portugal, Spain and Colombia — places that show that tourism is the solution and not something blocked by the problems we have,” said Freixo.

Embratur now has a data intelligence portal that produces analyses of the tourists who come to Brazil. Used by public and private managers, its goal is to provide information that helps improve planning in the sector.

“We hope to reach seven or eight million tourists coming to Brazil within two years. But revenue also needs to be higher. I want international tourists to stay longer here. The more attractions I have to offer, the longer they stay and the more they spend. It is important to invest in projects to that end. One example, which will start in Rio de Janeiro, is the literary routes project. We will have plaques identifying where artists and characters from literature and music lived in Rio de Janeiro,” said the president of Embratur.

Source: EBC – Agência Brasil, by Rafael Cardoso.