Embratur and ProColombia formalize Memorandum of Understanding

Embratur (Brazilian Agency for the International Promotion of Tourism) and ProColombia, responsible for the tourist promotion of destinations in Colombia, formalized, this Thursday (2/24), a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation between the institutions with a view to increasing the flow of Colombian, Brazilian and international tourists in both countries. The document was signed during the Vitrina Turística ANATO 2022, the most important fair in the Colombian tourism sector, which has its own stand by Embratur in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism.

“With regard to tourism, Colombia and Brazil have many affinities, as they share a land border of more than 1,600 kilometers. The joining of forces to carry out joint actions for the dissemination of the two countries will bring mutual benefit. With this agreement, we will identify bottlenecks and resolve them quickly so that we have good results”, explained Carlos Brito, president of Embratur, during the Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony.

According to Brito, it is necessary to increase connectivity between countries and meetings are already scheduled between Embratur and ProColombia so that dissemination actions are carried out in line with the announcement of new flights. “Today, there are approximately 30 weekly flights between countries. We want to have around 60 flights operated by at least four airlines during the first half of 2022”, he detailed.

Among the various actions foreseen in this partnership between Embratur and ProColombia, the exchange of information for the promotion of tourist activities stands out; cooperation in tourism intelligence through the sharing of bigdata tools and tourism-related statistics; joint holding of promotional events and exhibitions; and the programming of tourism marketing actions and promotion activities.

“We are determined to carry out the joint promotion with Embratur and Brazil also for the formation of routes that will mean much more opportunities, more connectivity and more development for our region. Brazil is a great ally and this agreement is the first of several steps to increase trade relations between the countries through tourism”, said Flavia Santoro, president of ProColombia.

The agreement also provides for the possibility of promoting the mutual use of experiences in the area of ​​human development and in educational activities aimed at tourism. During ANATO 2022, Embratur promotes the training “Los Tesoros de Brasil”, to present Brazilian qualities to tourism professionals participating in the fair.

“It will be of great value if we can join Colombia in other international events in the sector for joint presentations of the beauties and attractions that we have, for the possible formatting of binational tourist packages for foreign tourists and for other joint communications aimed at the final public”, indicated the President of Embratur, Carlos Brito.

For the Brazilian ambassador to Colombia, Luís Antonio Balduino, the agreement is an important pillar for the population of both countries to get to know each other even better and to be able to identify their cultural similarities. For him, the visit of Colombian President Ivan Duque to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was very important for the rapprochement to occur. “This Memorandum came about after the meeting of the two presidents,” he said.

During ANATO 2022, the Agency's own stand, in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism, has 198 m2 and has the participation of 19 co-exhibitors among destinations and operators of the Brazilian trade. In person at the fair, the president of the Agency holds meetings with airlines (Avianca, Latam, Viva Air and Copa), with tourist trade operators and with representatives of the diplomatic corps of participating countries to promote Brazilian destinations and make it possible to increase the air network. to the country.