MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil promoting tourism with increasing connectivity and supply of seats

Ministry of Tourism data says some 6.6 million foreigners visited Brazil in 2018: from South America (61.2%), Europe (22.1%) and North America (10.4%)

Brazil is s emerging as an alternative for generating new tourism businesses in 2020, in terms of attracting foreign visitors. The exchange rate situation, the recovery of the economy and the new offerings of products and services are factors that strengthen the tourism sector. According to the World Economic Forum, the country is number one in natural attractions and eighth in cultural ones, with great potential to be explored. Few destinations have so much to offer for tourists.

Given this scenario, the survey indicates positive figures for the tourism development of Brazil. According to data from the Ministry of Tourism, about 6.6 million foreigners visited Brazil in 2018, all of them respectively from South America (61.2%), Europe (22.1%) and North America (10.4%). Foreign spending represented US$ 6 billion in the Brazilian economy. Moreover, the high loyalty of travelers who express a desire to return reaches 95.4% and the intention of business visitors exceeds 90%.

Following the growing scenario of actions that favor national development, the airline segment has been a protagonist of changes, increasing connectivity between countries and increasing the supply of seats.

The sector already accounts for 65.4% of non-resident tourist access, followed by land (31.5%). There are 255k seats in direct international flights to Brazil per week. Among the news, Gol Linhas Aéreas announced, in early October, the expansion of the route between Natal and Buenos Aires with the addition of a second weekly frequency, in addition to the daily flights between Sao Paulo and Peru, which will start in December. Likewise, Sao Paulo, Falkland Islands, one a week beginning 20 November.

Brazil also attracts low cost investments. In March, Norwegian started flights from London to Rio de Janeiro. Already in October, FlyBondi started with flights connecting Argentina to Rio de Janeiro and, in December, the company will also serve Florianópolis.

Foreign airlines most recently launched new flights in Brazil:

• American Airlines: São Paulo-Miami (third daily flight)

• Lufthansa: São Paulo-Munich (December);

• Air Europa: Fortaleza-Madrid (December);

• Virgin Atlantic: São Paulo-London (March 2020);

• Amaszonas: Rio de Janeiro – Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Foz do Iguaçu – Santa Cruz de la Sierra (December);

• Paranair: Rio de Janeiro-Asunción (December);

• Sky Airline: Florianópolis-Santiago (November) and Salvador-Santiago (until the end of the year);

• JetSmart: Salvador-Santiago (December), Foz do Iguaçu-Santiago (January 2020) and São Paulo-Santiago (March 2020);

• AZUL: Belo Horizonte-Fort Lauderdale (December);

• LATAM: Brasília-Santiago (October), Brasília-Lima (November), Falkland Islands-São Paulo (November) and Brasília-Asunción (December).