Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) has announced the opening of a representative office in Brazil as part of its strategy to attract visitors from the growing South American tourism market.

The announcement was made at the World Travel Market Latin America in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Speaking to an audience of travel media, Hamad Mohammad Bin Mejren, DTCM’s executive director for business tourism, said: “The opening of our first South American office demonstrates the importance we are placing in increasing relationships with the tourism industry of this market. The office will focus on promoting Dubai as a leisure and MICE destination to the whole Latin and South American market, but specifically to Brazil and Argentina. The initiatives that we run through this office will drive visitor numbers from a market that we believe has huge potential.”

Emirates Airline operates direct flights to both Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and close to 40,000 Brazilians visited Dubai in 2012, a 28 per cent increase on 2011. In addition, 300,000 Brazilians transited through Dubai International Airport last year — a 61 per cent increase — showing that Dubai is fast emerging a platform from which to reach the markets of both China and Africa. The emirate is also growing in popularity with organisers of Brazilian Incentive Trips.

Hilal Saeed Al Merri, director general of the DTCM and CEO of Dubai World Trade Centre, said: “Brazil is Dubai’s primary business partner in Latin America. So, in delivering our strategy to increase visitor numbers from the region, it was the natural location of choice for our first South American representative office. Trade between Brazil and the UAE is increasing exponentially and with the connectivity Emirates provides, there is significant potential to grow this market. By opening this office, we hope to double the number of visitors from Brazil from 40,000 in 2012 to 80,000 in 2014. The expertise of the regional office will enable us to be very specific and localised in our campaigns. We will also use this office to enter other South American markets.”

Strong economy

The latest World Travel Trends Report showed that Brazilians are increasingly spending money on foreign travel, a result of the country’s strong economy, a 6 per cent year-on-year increase in incomes and a growing middle class which accounts for 52 per cent of the Brazilian population, with the average family in this bracket earning approximately $1,412 (Dh5,185) per month. The growth in this segment is a key contributor to an estimated year-on-year growth of the Brazilian outbound market of 4.5 per cent up to 2020 (according to ‘Research and Markets’). In 2012, Brazilians spent over $21 billion abroad, a sum that increased 175 per cent in the past five years.