39% jump in U.S. travel to Brazil with visa waiver

Saturday, February 1, 2020

In June after the government of President Jair Bolsonaro waived a visa requirement for U.S. citizens, the number of Americans booking flights to Brazil has gone up by 39% as per the official tourism agency.

There are further plans to draw more.

Embratur President Gilson Machado said that Brazil is much more than the land of caipirinhas and tiny bikinis. They want to focus on ecotourism  and the vast natural resources, from the Amazon rainforest to the Pantanal wetlands.

Direct flights to more cities in Brazil is expected to increase as Machado spoke to the U.S. airlines last week.

A new publicity campaign to sell Brazil as a new country will be launched by Embratur. The annual budget has been increased by Bolsonaro to $129 million from just $ 8 million.

According to World Bank data and the United Nations World Tourism Organization international tourism represents only 2.5% of Brazilian export revenue as compared with 7.5% in Argentina and nearly 17% in Uruguay.

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

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