The Ministry of Tourism released a note this evening (23) contesting the assessment made in the sector by the transition team of the elected government. According to the note, in the last four years, there have been historic achievements for the sector.
The note highlighted some of these achievements, such as visa exemption for four strategic countries: Australia, United States, Canada and Japan; the inclusion of Jet-A fuel in aviation and taxes for aircraft leasing; the end of the foreign capital limit for airlines; the attraction of low cost airlines; the choice of Brazil as the host country for the first office of the World Tourism Organization in South America; having the biggest cruise season of the last 10 years in the 2022/2023 season; the reduction of Income Tax on remittances abroad, which strongly affects more than 35,000 travel agencies, and zero PIs/Cofins for airline companies.
The ministry also highlighted actions to strengthen domestic tourism, such as 3,247 tourist infrastructure works delivered and 2,239 started; 129 free professional training courses offered, with 58 thousand qualified students; R$ 2.4 billion in resources contracted as credit to the sector; issuance of 32,000 Responsible Tourism Seals, as an incentive to return to travel safely in the country and 2,933 municipalities are currently registered in the Brazilian Tourism Map.
According to the note, many of these achievements were made amid the crisis resulting from the covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in severe limitations and damage to the sector worldwide. “Thanks to the speed of the work carried out by Pasta and the federal government, it was possible to protect the sector and guarantee the survival of companies and jobs. The growing numbers of activity throughout Brazil reflect the effort and daily commitment to Tourism in Brazil, which is in full recovery process, accumulating bigger and better numbers.
transition report
Regarding tourism in the final transition report, it was described that the “brutal discontinuity of public policies by the Bolsonaro government in the Ministry of Tourism and Embratur, in recent years, has negatively impacted Brazilian tourism. which lost almost all the achievements obtained in the last two decades, since the creation of the Ministry of Tourism and the transformation of Embratur into the institution responsible for marketing, promotion and support for the commercialization of Brazil in the international market, in 2003.”
The report highlights the issue of the portfolio’s budget forecast for 2023 and the role that Embratur will play in the new government. “It is recommended to revise the legal model [da Embratur] and the review of the contract with Sebrae, today the main source of funding for the institution’s actions.”
It is also considered fundamental “the reconstruction of governance, with the resumption of the actions of the National Tourism Council (CNT), elaboration of a new National Tourism Plan (PNT)
and the National Tourism Policy.”
