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Brazil has received about 3.4 million foreign tourists who spent in the country US$ 2,2 billion, in the first semester of the year.
The amount represents a growth of 10% regarding last year's January to June period, when the contribution of these tourists to the Brazilian economy amounted to US$ 1.8 billion. "The numbers that we assessed in 2006 with expenditures and number of passengers are record," said Márcio Nascimento the director of Embratur's (Brazilian Tourism Institute) Marketing Institutional Relations. Regarding the number of foreign tourists that traveled to Brazil, the growth wasn't that great since 3,3 million foreigners visited Brazil during the same six-months period last year. "There wasn't such a substantial increase in the number of visitors. But they are spending more money in the country. In other words, we are getting a more qualified tourist, who tends to spend a little more than those in past years". When we consider the money spent by foreign tourists from January to September, that amount grew 12.74% when compared with the same period in 2005, when foreigners left US$ 2.845 billion in Brazil. Embratur celebrated its 40th birthday this past November 18. According to Nascimento, the good performance of the tourism sector should be attributed to the change of focus implemented by Embratur starting in 2003. Since then the tourism institute has concentrated all its efforts in promoting Brazilian tourism overseas. Embratur was created in 1966 in Rio de Janeiro. Starting in 1991, however, it became an autarchy or special semi-independent federal agency, earning the status of institute linked to the Brazilian presidency's Regional Development Secretariat. Mission According to Brazil's National Tourism Plan, Embratur will be responsible for performing: - the elaboration and implantation of the marketing plan to the Brazilian tourism; - the definition and execution of promotional actions policies and support to the commercialization of tourist products; - the formation and organization of new products and integrated tourist programs and - the elaboration of studies and researches to guide the processes of decision making and to evaluate the impact of tourist activity on the national economy. The promotion of Brazilian tourism on the international market will have the diversification of the country’s image as a strategic concept. The marketing process will organize the construction of Brazil as a tourist destination modern, with credibility, happy, young, hospitable, able to provide good leisure, new experiences to the visitors, place to make businesses, events and incentives, and will make the country internationally competitive. The essence of the Brazilian culture and its ethnical, social and natural diversities will be integrated to the promotion and marketing program. There will be a replacement program of the Marca Brasil (Brazil Brand) to tourism, creating and consolidating a new Brazilian tourist image on the international market integrated to the cultural, ethnical and social diversity of the country. The promotion and the support to the commercialization of Brazilian tourist products will be based on a lot of actions, including: attendance on international tourism fairs (with the extension of the existing agenda, focusing not only the leisure tourism, but also the business and events tourism); realization and attendance on promotions (partnership with Brazilian companies for the introduction of products and events); opportunity actions (attendance on big Brazilian events abroad, like opportunity of tourism promotion); captation and promotion of events and promotion of international events. Also will be created a generation and dissemination program about Brazilian tourism whose purpose will be to know the national and international markets, the impact of tourism on the country’s economy, to guide the investments on tourism and promote the communication of the results provided to the market, press and official tourism institutions, as well as to guide the public and private policies. ABr
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