President of Embratur and Minister of Tourism of Brazil visit the Pelé Museum in Santos
The attraction opened in 2014, tells the story of the player from childhood to stardom
The Minister of Tourism, Gilson Machado Neto, accompanied by the president of Embratur, Carlos Brito, was in Santos (SP), last Thursday (10.02), for a technical visit to the Pelé Rei do Futebol Museum made history, receiving a contribution from R$ 9.8 million from Pasta for the assembly of a multimedia exhibition, execution of a lighting project and implementation of a security system.
For Minister Gilson Machado Neto, the place is an important tourist attraction that deserves to be widely publicized, not only for Brazilians, but for the world. According to him, the museum honors an important Brazilian figure who uniquely represented Brazil abroad.
“He is the biggest icon of the biggest mass sport in the world. Born in Brazil, an example of a citizen and athlete. We have an example of a person like Pelé, with so many titles, with so many achievements and who made our country known abroad. I think that if you add up everything that all governments have already spent on promoting Brazil abroad, he does not give even half of what Pelé has already disclosed to our country for free”, he commented.
“This visit to this museum, which received financing from the Ministry of Tourism in the order of R$ 9.8 million and from the Rouanet Law of about R$ 26 million, is emblematic. That is what we are, we go where things happen”, added the minister.
The president of Embratur, Carlos Brito, stressed that the museum has great potential to be an attraction of international interest. “You can count on Embratur to promote this unique attraction in the world, which everyone should know about. It goes beyond soccer and features much more of our Brazilian icon Pelé, who is known internationally,” he said.
After the technical visit, the Minister of Tourism embarked on another attraction in Santos: the Tourist Tram Line. The electric tram departs from Valongo station and runs through the historic center of the city.
The Pelé Museum, opened in 2014, tells the story of the King of Soccer, from childhood to stardom on fields around the world. There are 4,134 square meters of documents, shirts, boots, balls and trophies. The place still preserves the crown and the scepter offered by the Yugoslav national team before the match with the Brazilian national team on July 18, 1971, at the Maracana, when Pelé took off the shirt with the number 10 that he immortalized forever.
The museum works in another tourist attraction in Santos: the Casarão do Valongo. It was built in 1867 to house the seat of the government of the Province of São Paulo, which would be transferred to Santos, something that did not happen in the end.