In this milestone, Travel2latam spoke with Marcelo Freixo, President of Embratur.
What are your feelings about participating in an event like FITUR?
FITUR is one of the largest tourism fairs in the world. The size of this fair is very impressive, we have more than 150 countries, an expected audience of 250 thousand people throughout the fair, which means it is larger than almost all the cities on the planet. Having Brazil as a partner and prominent country, with more visibility and publicity is very strategic for us, because Brazil already occupies an important market in Portugal, due to the historical relations it has. It also has important ties with France, which is the European country that sends the most tourists to Brazil. And in between Portugal and France there is a Spain with a great capacity to send tourists and that knows less about Brazil. So it is an important strategy to occupy a central space in a fair that is the most important in Europe, but which is within the Spanish market. Here we can talk with Spanish travel agencies, with a platform that creates intimacy with the Brazilian market.
In which markets and for which languages is the platform project available?
English and Spanish are already on the air. With this platform you become an expert on Brazil, you get closer to the diversity, and even to a country of continental dimensions. The number of national tourists reaches 130 million people, and the internal market is much stronger than the foreign one, so there are 130 million people who travel within Brazil for tourism. This Brazilian diversity is very large, you have six biomes, there is a diverse gastronomy, different types of beaches, forests, marshlands, Amazon. We present this diversity on a website, in two languages, so that agencies understand that in addition to promoting, for example, the Caribbean, they can promote the Northeast. Brazil is very prepared to receive this European tourist.
There are many destinations where professionals can visit the wonders that the country has to offer, and it also has great connectivity.
Exactly, Brazil increased its international connectivity by 18% from 2024 to 2023, but in some places like the Northeast, which we have been talking about here, it increased by 34%. So, Brazil is on the world's platform as an option to visit, and it plays an important role, whether in the G20, the BRICS or the COP30, there is an international and institutional agenda, that generates greater tourist visibility.
You work in the tourism market in Brazil, today you shared important numbers that we would like to know.
We have made all this effort and it has generated concrete results. We reached 6.8 million international tourists, it is a record, we passed the pre-pandemic period, we surpassed the World Cup period, where Brazil received many tourists, and now we receive the news that we reached a record of income. We reached 7.3 billion dollars collected with international tourism. This is job and income generation, this is a tourist who stays longer and spends more, and a Brazil that earns more with that tourism.
For us, these are very important numbers that show a trend in tourism consolidating itself as a Brazilian economic alternative.
How do you think the year will be, what is your vision?
I think we already have the best summer ever, the summer of 2025. We already have records, for example, a 35% increase in Spanish flights. So, everything indicates that just as we broke records in 2023 and 2024, the same will happen in 2025. In both tourists and reservations, we will exceed 7 billion international tourists and approach 8 billion dollars in revenue.
In other words, Brazil is consolidating itself as an international destination.
At a festival like Fitur there are businessmen from different segments. Have you had meetings with them?
We already have a Spanish and a Portuguese investment taking place in Rio de Janeiro. All-inclusive resorts are a reality, they have grown and become established in Brazil, which brings safe tourism, which extends to various regions. In the Southeast, South, Northeast and North there is a very present universe of resorts, since Brazil is consolidating itself in luxury tourism.
And in terms of connectivity, what new features can you present?
We have had some meetings with Iberia and they have the possibility of a shorter flight, which would not reach Rio and São Paulo, but would reach the Northeast. I am sure that flights to the Northeast will soon be announced, just as Azul is doing. I think that Europe and the Iberian Peninsula will be very well connected to the Brazilian Northeast.
How is your schedule going?
The calendar is huge. We're leaving Fitur and there's already a fair in Colombia and we have Carnival, which is a big agenda for us. Immediately after, there's the Lisbon Fair, then also the Berlin fair, which is during Carnival, so we don't lack work.