From anonymity to leadership at Embratur: Tania Neres gives voice to tourism of belonging at WTM Latin America
A national reference in Afrotourism, Tania Neres participated in the WTM with strong speeches on racial identity, black protagonism and the new directions of Brazilian tourism with a focus on inclusion
WTM Latin America 2025 was not just about business and trends. It was about visibility, listening and identity. And few voices echoed as loudly at Expo Center Norte as that of Tania Neres, coordinator of Diversity, Afrotourism and Indigenous Peoples at Embratur.
“I am the daughter of Bahians and I became a black woman in Salvador,” said Tania, revealing a process of self-affirmation that redefined her career in tourism. Before that, she had a long career in operational positions, always questioning the lack of black people in prominent positions: “The positions passed me by and I was not promoted. I realized that it was not incompetence. It was racism.”
It was during the pandemic that she decided to transform her pain into movement. “I focused on the fact that tourism had to be about belonging. I discovered the Black Travel Movement and understood that we were not alone,” she said.
Today, at the head of an unprecedented coordination created at the request of the federal government, Tania Neres acts as a bridge between black and indigenous communities and the tourism market. In two years, she has won awards, alliances and expanded the reach of a discourse that had long been ignored.
“The whole of Brazil has Afrotourism. From the Amazon to Rio Grande do Sul. Wherever there is a black person traveling, there is Afrotourism. But we still need to show the other side of the postcard,” she says, citing the historical lack of black representation in traditional itineraries.
She highlights the Quilombo dos Palmares Memorial as the epicenter of this transformation: “The mecca of Afrotourism is in Alagoas. It has already received thousands of foreign black tourists in the 80s and 90s. We need to develop this place with pride and investment.”
Neres sees Afrotourism not only as a social movement, but also as an economic strategy. “Just as Italian tourism sells wine and pasta, Afrotourism sells drums, palm oil, and the history of resistance. It is an industry of living memory,” she emphasizes.
WTM Latin America marked a new chapter in its journey: “We are retelling the history of Brazil from the perspective of the communities. What was invisible is now a tourist powerhouse,” she concluded firmly and emotionally.
Report and photo: Mary de Aquino.