Lula: “It is necessary to reduce the price of air tickets for people to travel”

August 01, 2023 | 3:50 p.m

Lula: “It is necessary to reduce the price of air tickets for people to travel”

According to the president, the tourism sector has great potential for development, contributes to the consolidation of the country’s image abroad and adds a dimension of sovereignty to the country

Natural beauties, warm welcome, cultural diversity and gastronomy capable of delighting the most refined palates. With better priced tickets, adequate infrastructure and expanded air connectivity, Brazil’s tourism inclination could make a qualitative leap even more expressive than that already recorded in the first six months of 2023.

The perception belongs to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and was highlighted during the Conversation with the President, a weekly conversation with journalist Marcos Uchôa on social networks.

“We need to discuss how to make air tickets cheaper for people to travel. We are thinking of a program to facilitate the movement of pensioners, workers, maids,” said the president. “Travelling is getting to know our country. It gives a dimension of sovereignty, of nation.”

The sector has experienced a series of expressive numbers in 2023. In the domestic market, more than 43.8 million Brazilians traveled throughout the country in the first half, a 15% increase compared to the same period in 2022. 7.2 million passengers flew Brazil , according to information from the National Civil Aviation Service (Anac).

“We have great domestic tourism when the economy is good. Many gauchos, catarinenses, paulistas travel to the northeast, many northeasters to the south, many people go to the north. There is a lot of domestic tourism,” Lula said.

“People don’t know the richness of the country’s cuisine. If you go to Para, the wealth of Para is incredibly exuberant. Take Minas Gerais. Take the cuisine of Bahia. These are states that set an example to the world of food quality, diversity, deliciousness,” the president said.

Brazil in the first half, representing 92% of the total number of international tourists the country received in 2022, when 3.6 million foreigners entered Brazil.

In May, foreign tourists spent US$567 million in the country, the highest volume for the month in the historical series recorded by the Central Bank since 1998. Last year, the spending of this audience in the same period was US$373＄ million. In the accumulated result for the year, international visitors have already contributed about R＄13 billion to the Brazilian economy, 35.9% more than last year.

For the president, there is room for even more consistent growth. Among the challenges are improving air connectivity and the infrastructure available to tourists in some parts of the country.

“Part of the success of tourism depends on our responsibility as a government, to the entrepreneurs of the industry. We need a quality hotel network to improve as much as possible,” said the president. The gateways to the country, Lula argues, can be more diversified so that a foreign tourist coming from Europe, for example, does not have to pass through São Paulo before going to Manaus (AM) or Belém ( PA).

In terms of the country’s image abroad, the president defends investments for more frequent dissemination of the country’s differences. “You have to advertise the beautiful things, the good things that the country has. We have an excellent cuisine, culture, music, museums, forests, Monte Beach,” he said.

Lula also defended the idea of ​​Brazil considering an international television to publicize the country’s beauty abroad. “It’s to show the face of Brazil abroad. Not the political debate, the government, the Congress. Just show Brazil as it is. Naked. For the person to know what Delta do Parnaíba means, Lençóis Maranhenses. Brazil has to show itself to the world,” he said.

Secretary of Social Communication of the Presidency of the Republic