Tour Operators Make up Almost One-Fifth of Trade: The São Paulo State Tourism Secretariat, through the Tourism Coordination and the Tourism Intelligence and Economics Center (CIET), has just released the survey “Agência de Viagens Paulistas – Análise Mercadológica.” (Roughly “São Paulo Travel Agencies—Market Analysis.” The term “Paulista” is a shortened form of the city and state’s proper name for its citizens and residents—in much the sense that “American” is a shortened form, for many, to use for people of the United States of America.)
Preface—Why This Matters: It is important to recognize the singular importance of such a study, as São Paulo is the largest (44 million people) of Brazil’s 26 states. Its principal city, São Paulo, with a population of approximately 12 ¼ million, is the largest in the nation and one of the largest cities in the world. It is also the business and industrial center of Brazil. Were it a nation, the state of São Paulo, with its GDP of $472 billion, would rank it 26th among the world’s nations. (Brazil is ranked #12.)
Location of Brazil’s state São Paulo is Highlighted
Preface, continued: Also, the two major consumer confidence measures for the Brazilian economy—The Consumer Confidence Index (ICC), The Retail Businessmen Confidence Index (ICEC)—are based in the city of São Paulo. As the authoritative monthly overview of the Brazilian travel and tourism trade put out by the publications PANROTAS and FecomercioSP explains it, “Although the indicators are from the city of São Paulo, they follow the trend of what is happening in the rest of the country since the largest city in Brazil represents 11 percent of the national GDP.”
The following points come from the study (Caution—this is a google translation), as reported by the Brazilian trade journal Diãrio do Turismo.
—The objective: The of the work is to delimit the commercial characteristics of the State’s travel agencies. The questionnaires were answered in July, allowing an overview of how the segment is organized in the State, in addition to the impacts of the coronavirus on sales expectations at the height of the pandemic.
—Careful Look: “This result demonstrates that the tourist destinations in the State will need a more careful look at the increase in demand that we are generating”, understands the Secretary of Tourism, Vinicius Lummertz. “Sales will take place directly between the customer and attractions, hotels and other services. Something that already happens, it is true, but now we have the exact dimension of how much.” Most tourist cities are visited by São Paulo residents itself, autonomously, in their own car, without the intermediation of agencies.
Regarding the location of the most commercialized by the agencies:
–54.16 percent are national destinations outside the State of São Paulo;
-24.96 percent in São Paulo; and
-20.88 percent international travel.
Potential: The “sun, beach and nautical” segment is the most worked by the agencies, with 67.8 percent of responses. In sequence, “ecotourism, adventure and rural” appear, with 49.9 percent, “theme parks,” 49.7 percent, “business and events” and “cultural,” 46 percent. The results, according to the Secretary of Tourism of São Paulo, demonstrate the potential to be explored by the State of São Paulo, which has beaches, theme and natural parks, Atlantic Forest, mountains and rural attractions, in addition to leadership in business trips and in the cultural calendar.
