Embratur President Marcelo Freixo was present at the 6th CLIA Brazil 2024 Forum, which took place on Wednesday (28), in Brasilia (DF). Also present at the Agency, which sponsored the event, were Embratur's Data Intelligence and Competitiveness Manager, Fábio Montanheiro, Multimodal Transport Demand Coordinator, Philipe Karat, and Nature and Special Segments Coordinator, Leonardo Persi.
At the meeting, authorities and key players in the cruise market discussed the main trends, sustainability, investments and bottlenecks facing the cruise industry in Brazil.
Cruises, both sea and river, are part of Brazil's strategy to promote tourism abroad.
According to Freixo, Embratur and the Brazilian Maritime Cruise Association (CLIA Brazil) are working together to strengthen Brazil as one of the main cruise destinations in the world. “We have had a partnership since the beginning of our management, in 2023. It is a partnership that reinforces the importance of cruises for the growth of international tourism in Brazil, in addition to national tourism. We want this expansion even more. In all of Embratur's campaigns in Latin America, we see cruises as a fundamental and decisive way to attract international tourists to Brazil,” he stressed.
CLIA Brazil president Marco Ferraz welcomes the expansion of the segment. “We have been working to bring ships here and it is the first time in history that we have more than a million cruise ships coming to Brazil and South America,” he said.
At the meeting, participants also discussed how to attract ships and prepare cities to receive cruises, focusing on services, infrastructure, security, attractions and entertainment. Topics such as decarbonization in the segment and infrastructure needs and improvements to make ports more competitive and efficient in serving cruise guests were also addressed.
Entry by water
According to the Embratur Data Portal, 190,838 foreign visitors entered Brazil by sea and river routes in 2023. There were 124,360 tourists by sea and 66,478 by river. Argentina, Uruguay and the United States, in that order, are the countries that sent the most visitors by sea and river routes.
According to the survey, from January to July of this year there were 152,866 visitors: 98,282 entered by sea and 54,584 by river. Argentina, Uruguay and the USA also appear, in that order, as the countries that sent the most visitors by sea and river in 2024.
Source: EMBRATUR.