The news of the upcoming editions was presented yesterday (28) by the president of ABAV Nacional, Magda Nassar, and was received with joy by the DF tourism secretary, Cristiano Araujo.
At the opening of the fair on the 27th, Eduardo Paes, mayor of Cidade Maravilhosa, offered 30 million reais for ABAV Expo to remain in Rio de Janeiro, the fair returns to Rio in 2025, and was celebrated by the State Tourism Secretary from Rio de Janeiro, Gustavo Tutuca.
The fair takes place close to a very important date for tourism, World Tourism Day, which is celebrated every September 27th, the opening day of the event this year.
In this edition there were more than 1500 brands exhibiting, around 40 thousand visitors. Wide corridors and yet crowded all the time. There was a large space for lectures and training, ABAVTalks.
Artists, indigenous people, musicians, dancers made the destination stands much more than a presentation on paper and spoken, but an immersion into culture, such as Pernambuco, Argentina, Sergipe, Morocco, Bahia, Tocantins, Mato Grosso and many others.
Destination authorities spoke about the relevance of the 50th ABAV Expo and its always taking place on World Tourism Day, a commemorative date for the sector.
Check out what representatives from destinations who attended the fair said.
Fabrício Amaral, president of Fonatur and Goiás Turismo
"Good guys, we are here at the 50°ABAV in Rio de Janeiro, emblematic and the first fair was also here fifty years ago. I represent the very strong association, operators connecting with global tourism and helping Brazilian tourism a lot, and for the first time, the twenty-seven states present here, connecting, talking to each other, is very important in this resumption of tourism, in Brazil almost nine percent of GDP, more than seven million formal jobs and obviously tourism with these numbers with this expression stands as a great alternative for the social and economic development of this country. Just value it, just join hands, the presence of ministers, of great authorities here. So tourism asking for passage.
It's emblematic! For the fiftieth fair here, so many important people joining hands here with announced policies. I'm sure here that we gain a lot of appreciation. Presence of the minister on both days, President Marcelo Freixo, senators, partnerships with financial institutions, so several elements that put tourism in its rightful place, rest assured, hope for 2023, this is a great year for Brazilian tourism."
Milagros Ochoa, Director of Tourism at the Commercial Office of Peru in Brazil
"We are now at the 50th Abav fair, in Rio de Janeiro, just starting the fair on World Tourism Day, this date when we all have to celebrate this resumption of tourism after complicated and challenging years, but I believe we are all already working on In the same sense as this passion for traveling, travelers have already started visiting national and international destinations since last year and I take advantage of Travel2Latam to invite Brazilians to get to know Peru, to return to Peru.
We are very happy and we have all the tourist facilities, from reception, hotels, train companies, restaurants, gastronomy, we are very happy, congratulations and success to everyone."
Saulo Santos, tourism secretary of São Luís
"On September 27th, World Tourism Day is celebrated, of tourism professionals and this sector, it has a fundamental importance in the world economy, mainly due to the economic impact regarding the issue of generating employment and income and mainly also in the process of territorial development. Generating an increasingly quality infrastructure, both for those who visit, but mainly for those who reside. And being part of the 50th ABAV here representing the municipality of São Luís, is increasingly strengthening at this moment which is a historic milestone ABAV Expo that it celebrates fifty years of existence. So we need to be together with partners to join together with more and more large entities,public and private sector so that we can ensure that all this potential that São Luís has can reach the main buyers."
Tatiana Turra, president of the Curitiba Municipal Tourism Institute.
"I am very happy to be here in this commemorative edition of the 50th ABAV Expo, once again surprising in terms of audience, size, dimension, the stands are very beautiful. We have already been opting to participate in ABAV Expo for some time now, in a sequence of annual participation, so, for us, I think it is fundamental, important to have this contact, this relationship with travel agents and operators, in short, with all the actors in the sector, a great joy."
Márcio Nunes, secretary of tourism of Paraná
"It is a great satisfaction to be able to participate in this fair, which is one of the largest business fairs in the tourism sector in Brazil. Tourism has been growing a lot and tourism in Paraná is one of the fastest growing types of tourism in Brazil.
And this year we are second only to Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso in terms of growth.
The State Government has a very focused vision and will create a great media, marketing and publicity plan for the attractions that already exist in the state, equipped with the necessary infrastructure, which means that tourists can arrive and leave more easily in a large program. of training, qualification, of people to receive well. So for me it is a pleasure to be here today with this great opportunity to exchange experiences.
and make Brazil's internal tourism much more circular than it already is, because we have a large market here with more than two hundred and twenty million people. The market today is that after the pandemic there is a lot of traveling and also the great possibility of bringing in foreign tourists. Paraná is already the second most foreign-receiving state in Brazil and we want to further increase the number of foreign tourists that we can bring so that our economy can grow more and more."
Milena Pedrosa, deputy secretary of Minas Gerais
“Hello everyone, I'm here directly from the beautiful stand in Minas Gerais, at the base of Rio de Janeiro, celebrating not only World Tourism Day, but also celebrating Minas Gerais, our Minas Gerais, our creativity. For us, tourism is very important in the social and economic development of our state. In recent months, we have grown more than double the national average in the volume of tourist activities, showing the importance of our culture, our heritage, our attractions, our nature. So, we are very happy to be here at an important fair like this, showing our styles, our cities, our beauties and also our contemporary Minas Gerais cuisine. So, I invite everyone to come to Minas.”
Minas Gerais had the Gold cycle, the Diamond cycle, a very strong history. Minas Gerais has 62% of the historical heritage of all of Brazil and the kitchen represents another intangible heritage that brings contemporary times. It is very fluid, very tasty and very recognized throughout Brazil, 40% of tourists who come to Minas because of our cuisine. We have many titles and our cuisine has cheese bread, cheese, coffee, cachaça, very well established, rural tourism, very well established and which is one of the best coffees in Brazil. So we're here to celebrate that too."
Milena Pedrosa also spoke about the participation of the Caribbean country, Curaçao, at the Minas Gerais stand, check it out:
" This year we started a very important, bilateral partnership with Curaçao. We opened a new flight and in addition, Curaçao is essential for us also in terms of mining products and exports. We had a great festival, the 1st International Festival of Cuisine of Minas Gerais and the guest country was Curação.
We named this project Caipiblue and we had a big festival, we received the delegation from Curação and we are increasingly implementing not only more flights but also this exchange of tourists, mining products, a series of other joint business developments. "
Roni Costa, president of Riotur
"I am very proud president of Riotur, the public company that sells the best state, best city on the planet which is Rio de Janeiro. And I think that tourism has a huge impact, for the city, economically speaking, it means almost 5 % of the total ICMS service collection, which is the tax that the city collects on services.
Tourism has a huge impact, economically on the city and we are increasingly trying to improve the city, joining forces with governments and the private sector to continue being the city that receives the best and so that we can make our visitors feel at home. "
André Alliana, tourism secretary of Foz do Iguaçu
"Participating in the 50th ABAV alone, this number of studies says it all, there are half a century of activities that connect tourism, our entire economic potential, connecting people who are interested in selling with those who have something to sell, with whom has something to offer, with the destinations, so I think ABAV is the great gateway to success because it connects the ends and without a doubt, this is another meeting that comes to crown this action that they do. For Foz do Iguaçu, this is strategic .
I, who come from the area of experience tourism, adventure tourism, work in this area as a businessman and now occupy the Municipal Tourism Secretariat, I know how important it is for the private sector, this union of the sales process, of the public powers constituted by private initiative, all these economic and political efforts combined are excellent results. So, how important is this sum of efforts?
Foz do Iguaçu forms a great partnership with the State Government, as we are Brazil's second international gateway (the first is Rio de Janeiro), but for Asia we are the first gateway. And for Paraná, obviously the first entry in the entire state. So, there is this great partnership with the state, it strengthens us."
Bruno Wendling, president of the Mato Grosso do Sul Tourism Foundation
"Very cool, being on fifty years of ABAV Expo, I'm here with a stand as innovative as pro-supras, activating a really cool tunnel of experiences, being able to participate in this moment, it's just happiness. Being with almost fifty businesspeople, including
four tourist regions of Mato Grosso do Sul, launching new features such as the climate action guide, an international event with so many people in Brazil. This is the set of actions that we have been developing, the best stage we have to be able to present this is the stage of ABAV, with almost 40 thousand visitors expected, so I'm just happy to be here and very happy to have been in charge of the Foundation for so long."
The 50th ABAV Expo closes today at 8 pm.
Report: Mary de Aquino
Photo: Paulo Marques