In this context, Travel2latam spoke with Bruno Reis, Director of Marketing, Business and Sustainability at Embratur.
What are the expectations and objectives with which Brazil is present here at IBTM?
We are quite optimistic because the business tourism and events segment is very strategic for us. Specifically at this fair, we have an incentive-based positioning, so we launched an incentive showcase in Brazil, but we also come to extend support to the inVOYAGE Rio 2025 event , which will take place in Rio de Janeiro in February, where more than 90 global incentives and buyers will be presented who will come to Brazil.
So, within the MICE segment, we already have a lot of consolidation, with meetings, congresses and events, and we want a strategy aimed at incentives, so that Brazil can position itself in a way that can promote them.
We are here with 20 co-exhibitors, most of them international hospitality companies, hotel chains and also destinations, which do business during the three days of the fair.
It is a very important investment, it is a much larger stand…
Yes, we understand that there is a demand for Brazil in the short, medium and long term, so in 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028 Brazil will be in the spotlight of major events. The G20 is taking place right now in Rio de Janeiro, we have the BRICS next year, and the Women's World Cup will be held in Brazil in 2027. This once again places the country as a great portfolio for holding any type of event, anywhere in the country.
Many South Americans also end up travelling to Brazil to be able to participate in these big events. So we are proving once again that we have the structure for any type of event.
Which destinations do you think have seen significant growth in Brazil this year?
For the MICE segment specifically, I see Foz do Iguaçu positioning itself very aggressively commercially and that will bear fruit in the short term. Consolidated destinations such as Rio and São Paulo also always appear in our ranking, but the Northeast has made an appearance and I think it is a strategic work of the conventions. The convention in Fortaleza, the convention in Recife, Porto de Galinhas and Natal.
I think that in the future, conventions in the Northeast will continue to position themselves more and more for this segment.
Is this the last convention you have during 2024?
There are two more niche events, which is the IRTM in Cannes, where Brazil is going for the second time with a stand with 10 co-exhibitors to talk about luxury. This is quite strategic for us, it is a segment that we also want to grow towards 2025. In addition, we will now participate with Tânia Neres, who is our Afrotourism coordinator, in the Black Travel Summit that will take place, if I am not mistaken, in Fort Lauderdale at the end of November.
How do you think the year 2024 was in general terms?
With many lessons learned, specifically from our successful strategy of placing products and niches in the right markets, with the right channels. I think that in 2024 it was proven that we need to do more segmented campaigns because they work better. The growth, even, of some direct air routes that connect Brazil internationally was also very fruitful, from Chile, Colombia and Peru routes that did not exist were added. Paris now connects with Salvador, with Air France, Lisbon with Belém and Manaus with TAP, so these are routes that will also allow international tourism to reach other parts of the country directly.
It is also an important lesson to know how to decentralize the way in which national tourists arrive in our country, and it represents a great opportunity to promote our six biomes, because that is where we get the power that Brazil has.