The Plan has further developed the priorities set out in the Brazil Plus Tourism Plan launched in 2017 which aimed to improve product in key destinations and regions.
A range of measures to stimulate and deregulate the tourism sector is underway including:
Improvements to accessing credit and the development of new finance mechanisms to assist all types of tourism development projects which has attracted 118 new proposals with a total value of BRL 4.3 billion,
A visa waiver programme for tourists from Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States, as well as extensions to the length of visas for certain workers,
A study amongst Mercosur partners to establish a mutual acceptance system, to permit entrance in all countries with a single visa,
Improvements to air access with the approval of the Open Skies policy with the United States and authorisation for the entry of low-cost airlines into the domestic market,
A new Argentina-Brazil airway policy consolidating around 200 flights per week connecting several destinations and increasing flight frequencies by up to 30%,
Import tax exemptions for certain tourism products, such as theme parks, where specialist equipment cannot be sourced nationally. It is estimated this exemption will encourage tourism investment of BRL 1.9 billion and create 56 000 jobs over the next five years,
A close partnership between the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Education to drive up the volume of participants for vocational training to 193 000 people under the national programme,
Action to raise awareness of the regulatory requirements of tourism service providers – this saw a 21% increase in the number of companies registered on the national system.
Marketing activity continues to be prioritised to ensure continued growth. A new focus is to attract international events. It is estimated this could have generated 12 000 new inbound visitors and have a value of BRL 97 million during 2019. A major emphasis to attend international tourism fairs continues, an activity which is expected to underpin sales of USD 54.2 million over the next year.
A core priority of the Plan is the transformation of Embratur (the Brazilian Tourism Promotion Body – attached to the Ministry) into an Agency with a more flexible delivery structure. The related Federal Provisional Act was signed by Government in late November 2019 with Statutes published in December). This includes creating special tourism investment zones that can attract foreign investment, continue to improve regional connectivity, and stimulate more competition in the aviation sector.
Set out in recent law, Brazil has exempted visa requirements for residents of Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States, starting in June 2019. The four countries benefitting from the visa waiver were part of a previous pilot project that also enabled an electronic visa for anyone wishing to visit Brazil. The policy has resulted in a 35.2% increase in the number of visas issued to citizens of these markets, both e-visas and traditional, which represents significant potential foreign exchange income.
