Brazil prepares to attract tourists from China

Brazil’s preparations to receive tourists from China during the Olympics and Paralympics in 2016 was the focus of a seminar entitled “Welcome Chinese” held recently in the Federal Senate, according to information from the Brazilian Tourism Institute (Embratur).
Gilson Lira, Director of Tourism Promotion of Embratur, cited data from the World Tourism Organization as saying that Chinese citizens have been the highest tourism spenders worldwide since 2012.
Around 100 million people from China travel to different foreign destinations every year, and in 2014, according to the Statistical Yearbook of the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism. Brazil received only 57,000 of these people.
The Institute’s actions focused on the Chinese market include an invitation to 10 tour operators to the World Travel Market (WTM) fair to be held this month in São Paulo, a partnership with the Municipal Sports and Recreation Office of Rio de Janeiro to promote the Olympic Games and a visit by the Brazilian delegation to China to establish new operational agreements and investments in the sector.
The vice president of the China Tourism Academy, Zhong Guang Liele at the seminar said China was keen to stimulate tourism to Brazil, which is, along with the United States and Mexico, one of three tourism hubs in the Americas.  MDT/Macauhub