Embratur Rejoins USTOA and Unveils New Branding for Brazil

Following several years outside of the organization, Embratur, Brazil’s tourist board, has re-joined the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA), according to Embratur and USTOA officials.

Embratur’s move to re-connect with the tour operators’ group came as agency officials launched a new branding campaign focused on U.S. travelers.

“Returning to the USTOA is a central part of our strategy to expand the commercialization of Brazilian destinations in the U.S.,” said Marcelo Freixo, Embratur’s president.

“We have a wide variety of new products we are working to promote, and they serve different segments and niches that have strong market appeal,” Frexio said, “thus fostering the expansion of connectivity between the two countries.”

To date, Brazil has hosted 92 percent of its 2022 visitor total, with 3.2 million arrivals this year, said Jaqueline Gil, Embratur’s international marketing, business and sustainability director.

U.S. travelers represent the country’s second-largest visitor source market. A total of 271,100 U.S. travelers arrived in Brazil during the first five months of 2023, Gil said.

Increased airline service has helped to drive Brazil’s arrivals growth. The 9.7 million airline seats dedicated to Brazil between April and December of 2023 represent a 26 percent year-over-year increase based on statistics from Embratur and travel research firm ForwardKeys.

“We are going to celebrate our return to the USTOA we are going to celebrate the return of new flights to Brazil with the airlines, and we hope that all this will be converted into sales, into more tourists arriving in our cities,” Gil said.

Embratur’s U.S.-focused digital advertising campaign includes electronic billboard advertising in New York’s Times Square and plays on the country’s Portuguese spelling (with an “s”), linking the curves of the “s” with Brazil’s winding rivers and diverse landscape.

The campaign’s central tagline, “It’s Spectacular. It’s Brasil,” features several words starting with “s” to describe the country, including “sustainable,” “sunny,” “scrumptious” and “sambalicious.”

The campaign also highlights Brazilian tourism experiences including beaches, nature, historic cities, culture, gastronomy, sunny destinations and ecotourism.