Rio de Janeiro as main travel destination for New Yorkers

This erratic blogger is now in New York City. I am representing ESCP Europe at the headquarters of the United Nations. I lived here, a city some call the capital of the world, for 3 years during my undergraduate studies. Back in the days, when I mentioned to new acquaintances that I am Brazilian I used to hear commentaries about carnival, women, and/or soccer (mainly Ronaldinho or Pele). Today, I mostly hear about Lula and our strong economy. Brazil, who has always been perceived as an exotic place, now is also been perceived as the place to be.

As I was walking down Broadway Avenue, I saw on the top of a taxi an American Airlines publicity with the image of an airplane and in capital words something like: “ Rio de Janeiro, we take you there!” (too bad I didn’t take a picture). I asked myself: who is selling the tour packages to New Yorkers that want to visit Brazil? Is it an American or a Brazilian company?

In NYC the place to find any answer, as long as you are not trying to understand women, is the colossal New York Public Library. After a few hours in the centenary library I found out that BTOA (Brazil Tours Operators Association), an association of 40 U.S. tourist agencies, is responsible for 85% of the sales of tour packages to Brazil.

Brazil is such a hot destination for Americans that BTOA, in partnership with CBS media, has announced on Friday (22/04/11) $ 1 Million project to promote travels to Rio de Janeiro in New York City. This promotional campaign will start in September and will include 37 TV channels, 144 radio stations, 550 billboards and more than 200 sites.

Tourism is booming in Brazil. The World Tourism Organization projects that international tourism to Brazil will continue growing (5,2%) above the world average (4,3%) resulting in 14,1 million arrivals by 2020.

If you, dear reader, are in Rio, expect to see many more American “gringos” in the near future.

Published by Ricardo Geromel

Ricardo was born and raised in Brazil but also has Italian citizenship. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Fairleigh Dickinson University. This erratic blogger is a master candidate in Paris at ESCP-Europe, but presently in a gap semester. He speaks five languages and has worked as project manager for Bolloré Group in Guinea Conakry, West Africa and as agricultural commodities trader for Noble Group in Switzerland, Hong Kong, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil. View more posts

5 thoughts on “Rio de Janeiro as main travel destination for New Yorkers”

Well, first of all, I am so proud of this erratic blogger. I met Ricardo, for me Rico, in the United States, during my undergraduate studies. We have some similar characteristics, but the main is our international outlook. Why am I saying that? Like Rico, I am out of Brazil since 2003, when I started to travel around the world. Countries such as Argentina, Japan, Paraguay, Portugal, United States of America and Romania are in my resume. Based on what this erratic blogger wrote, in the past, people from these countries mentioned above used to ask me about Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, girls, and soccer. Also, they used to relate Brazil to dangerous country to be. However, since the financial crisis came to EVERYONE, people have changed their perpective of Brazil. I remember when Lula said that this crisis would be just a small wave people judged him as an irresponsible president. Well, we have to admit that he was right. The poof of it is above, in Rico’s statement: “Today I mostly hear about Lula and our strong economy. Brazil, who has always been perceived as an exotic place, now is also been perceived as the place to be.”
Regarding it, I would like to mention some sport events and entertainment events in Brazil. Important events such as 2014 Word Cup and 2016 Olympic Games will be held in Brazil. Also, Rio de Janeiro will be the host of the Rio de Janeiro Marathon, which is one of the most important and beautiful marathon in the world. In September, Rock in Rio, the biggest festival of music in the world, will be held in Rio de Janeiro. Elton John, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Lenny Kravitz, Guns N’Roses, Coldplay, Mana, Claudia Leite, Ivete Sangalo, Milton Nascimento, Maria Gadu, Paralamas do Sucesso e Titaes, Skank, and others have already confirmed their performance.
Proud to be a Brazilian!!!

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Ricardo Geromel says:

April 16, 2011 at 9:34 pm

Fernando, I appreciate your enthusiasm and optimism. How is Brazil perceived in Romenia?

Let’s hope that Dilma’s administration goes ahead with essential reforms and vital infrastructure investments so Brazil can reach its full potential.

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