Already ranked among the top global destinations for international events, Brazil is keen to win an even bigger slice of the market over the coming years, taking advantage of ongoing improvements to the country´s tourism and general infrastructure.
The Brazil Tourism Board (Embratur) is currently at The Americans Meetings & Events Exhibition (AIBTM) in Baltimore promoting the country's suitability for incentive travel and presenting a range of destinations to US decision makers.
According to the 2010 International Congress and Convention Association Brazil is among the top ten destinations for the organisation of trade shows and international conventions, with 275 events, an increase of around 400% since the turn of the Millennium. Furthermore, since 2003 the number of cities that have begun hosting international events has more than doubled, from 22 to 48 in 2010.
São Paulo remained in the second position for South America, with 75 events, while seven other Brazilian destinations are in the top 50 - Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Florianópolis, Porto Alegre, Foz do Iguaçu, Belo Horizonte and Salvador.
** Other important figures recently released by Embratur include:
- Brazil currently attracts between 600,000-700,000 visitors from the U.S. with hopes of increasing this to 1.5 million by 2020
- The country is working towards increasing its 2010 tourism revenue figures of $5.9 billion to $18 billion by 2020 with the increase of business and leisure travel
- By 2020, Brazil hopes to double international tourists from 5 million to 10 million, growing overall tourist activity in Brazil to 20-25%.