by Brian Major
Last updated: 10:55 AM ET, Mon July 1, 2019
Brazil's strategy to sharply increase its U.S. visitor arrivals is tied to expanding travelers' focus beyond Rio de Janeiro and other familiar districts to lesser-visited, yet equally exotic areas of South America's largest country.
Bahia is pre-eminent among the country's increasingly popular alternative tourist regions. The northeast Brazilian state recorded significant visitor growth this year, fueled in part by North Americans.
Bahia has hosted six million tourists to date in 2019, a 7.5 percent year-over-year increase compared with 2018 according to officials at the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, D.C. North Americans are the most frequent Bahia visitors, according to a 2014 survey of 21 municipalities by Brazil's State Tourism Secretariat, in partnership with the Foundation for Economic Research.
The waiver of visa requirements for North American travelers has been a key factor in the growing visitor numbers for both Brazil and the Bahia region.
US internet surveys of Brazil as a tourist destination surged by 31 percent a day after the initial visa waiver announcement in March. Furthermore, year-over-year Brazil bookings by Americans increased 53 percent in June, and by 97 percent in July.
We spoke recently with Leandro Aragonez, market manager - U.S.A. at Promo, who recently opened the organization's US Bahia office in New York, to learn more about the region and its growing popularity among North American travelers.
TP: What is special about Bahia?
LA: It's a place that can deliver unique experiences to the tourist. Not only with great and rare beauty beaches and all-inclusive resorts which can be found in places like Itacaré and Trancoso, but also with breathtaking landscapes, mountains, waterfalls in Chapada Diamantina, which is a perfect place to get away from the stress of the big cities.
Bahia has an unforgettable gastronomy and a rich culture with many heritage sites recognized by institutions like UNESCO, like the Historic Center of Salvador, the Pelourinho, an iconic "city in a city" with colorful colonial houses where even Michael Jackson recorded his video clip for 'They Don't Care About Us' with Olodum, one of the most famous band groups in Bahia.
Bahia is also the largest African community outside of Africa, so the culture in this state is one of the strongest in Brazil. It's also where the Portuguese first entered the country.
The tourists can find more than 365 historic churches in many places so we use to say that we have one church to be visited per day. The cultural festivities don't take a break and go all year round.
Bahia is a perfect blend of different cultures, flavors, and colors. Bahia can be anything the tourist wants: it can be cultural, it can be a beach destination, it can be an eco-tourism and adventure destination, a great option for a wedding destination. It can be also for carnival, cruises, ethnic. You name it and Bahia has it.
TP: What is Promo?
LA: Promo is a private company that works with tourism destinations and the Secretariat of Bahia is a client of ours. We promote the destination in the United States from our base in New York. We work closely with the government of Bahia. Our main goal is to bring more Americans to Bahia and present to them what this unique destination has.
TP: How does Bahia position travel to the destination to North Americans?
LA: We don't want to promote Bahia only for sun and beach. We understand Americans are used to travel to the Caribbean and they have access to ready-made packages.
The tourists can also go to Bahia for this reason (sun and beach with great all-inclusive resorts), but we also have a rich and strong culture as mentioned and great landscapes like Chapada Diamantina, ideal for an ecotourism and adventure travelers. That's what we want to promote and what we want Americans to experience.
TP: Now that is has been launched, how will the visa waiver impact US travel to Brazil?
LA: It will help a lot. The visa has always been an issue reported by the travel agents and tour operators throughout the US. Now it will be much easier for travelers to visit Brazil, especially Bahia. The expectation is to increase intensively.
We also have new flights from Copa Airlines, flying from the 13 US hubs, with a quick layover in Panama, connecting to Salvador, Bahia. If the tourists want to visit Bahia, they don't necessarily have to go through São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. Bahia invites you and all the travelers to have an unforgettable experience in this incredible state.
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