In 1998 I received a magazine from a tourism promotion company that was helping Embratur to promote Brazil. Unlike promotional material I'd received from other countries, it didn't tout the cities or the hotels. Instead, it was promoting the natural wonders of each state and their efforts to promote ecotourism. Many of these places I'd never heard of, since most brochures in travel agencies only featured Rio, Manaus and Iguassu Falls, even though Brazil is roughly the size of the lower 48 states in the U.S.
Shortly after, I met with some local Brazilian operators at a conference for South American travel and found one that I thought was interesting, so I went to their office in Rio to meet with the directors. When I walked into their office, I brought the magazine and said "these are the kind of things that I want to try to sell". They just smiled and said that they had helped to put that magazine together, so they knew the areas very well.
Then in 2001, I went to the 2nd annual trade show in Rio to promote tourism to Brazil. I was a little leery because I met an agent who had gone to the first one and she said that nobody at the booths spoke English, so she just went around and picked up brochures and was through in a half hour. Luckily, the Brazilian companies learned their lesson and so for the 2nd show, they all had at least 1 English-speaker at their booth and so I was able to learn a lot more from them. I found out about Bonito, which had only started promoting itself as an ecotourism destination in 1995 and has been voted the top ecotourism destination many times by Brazilians.
A few years later, I attended a trade show for Brazilian adventure and ecotour operators. While listening to presentations about fantastic places like Chapada dos Veadeiros, Chapada Diamantina, Lencois Marenhenses and Serra da Capivara, I mentioned to the presenters that if they would produce videos about their areas, they would be more compelling for prospective visitors than just a couple of photos on their website. Luckily, technology has advanced and more and more videos about these places are out there now.
Now I've been to Rio, Sao Paulo, Salvador, Recife, Fortaleza, Fernando de Noronha, Amazon, Bonito, north and south Pantanal, Chapada dos Guimaraes, Buzios, Paraty, Ilha Grande, Ouro Preto and Iguassu Falls. So I've got a pretty good idea about what Brazil has to offer. Jorge has also been in the business for many years and, though his specialty has been Chile and Argentina (having been the U.S. sales rep for several companies from there), he has visited many places in all of the South American countries, so is very familiar with what they have to offer. He is especially interested in indigenous cultures.
Now I've been to Rio, Sao Paulo, Salvador, Recife, Fortaleza, Fernando de Noronha, Amazon, Bonito, north and south Pantanal, Chapada dos Guimaraes, Buzios, Paraty, Ilha Grande, Ouro Preto and Iguassu Falls. So I've got a pretty good idea about what Brazil has to offer. Jorge has also been in the business for many years and, though his specialty has been Chile and Argentina (having been the U.S. sales rep for several companies from there), he has visited many places in all of the South American countries, so is very familiar with what they have to offer. He is especially interested in indigenous cultures.
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