"Approving casinos and resorts in Brazil is an opportunity to increase international tourism"

The Minister of Tourism, Vinicius Lummertz, opened past Thursday (17) in Fortaleza (CE), the debates of the 60th National Congress of Hotels (Conotel). Along with the president of the Brazilian Association of Hotel Industry (ABIH), Manoel Linhares, the minister said that the accommodation sector is among the most generating jobs in the Travel and Tourism sector.

Lummertz said that hospitality is a technology-intensive industry, but that instead of "replacing jobs" with applications, the segment generates new jobs. "The generation of jobs is in the DNA of the segment. Conotel brings together people so that we can better understand the concept of competitiveness and look together for the future in the search for solutions to uncertainties," he commented.

Tourism generates 7 million direct, indirect and induced jobs in Brazil. In the world, 1 in 5 jobs created in 2017 were generated among activities in the sector. The minister also spoke about the importance of "opening Brazil for tourism" and the need to create competitive market and business flow.

"Our business environment needs to be transformed. We have the greatest natural potential to invest in tourism, but we have only 10 million visitors in our national parks," he said. According to the minister, the “Brazilian cost”, legal insecurity and many other factors limit the productivity of the market.

Lummertz said there are at least three opportunities to double the 6 million international tourists in the country. "Approve casinos and resorts in Brazil; facilitate the development of national and theme parks; and encourage the construction and structuring of marinas and tourist ports," he explained.

CHALLENGES - In the same vein, ABIH Nacional's president, Manoel Linhares, said that the scarcity of resources for international promotion takes Brazil's global competitiveness. "Tourism still needs to work hard to expand the international promotion budget for our destinations. We need to get out of the six million tourists we receive each year," he said.

The president of the Tourism Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, Herculano Passos, stressed that "Congress is fighting many projects that were built in partnership with the trade and will be a milestone to increase competition in the sector as a whole - a good example is the reduction of the cost of air travel," he said, defending that the tourism matters that are handled in the House "deal with a sector that is the country's social and economic development tool."

Source: GMB / Vanessa Sampaio - Agencia de Notícias del Turismo