Brazil Travel Campaign Generated Millions in US Travel Bookings

Brazil's 2021 tourism ad campaign generated a $5.7 million increase in bookings from U.S. travelers, said officials at Embratur, the country's agency for international tourism promotion.

Designed to reinforce public awareness that Brazil is open to visitors and no longer requires a visa for entry, the campaign from November 2021 to April 2022 generated a 78 percent year-over-year increase for "Visit Brazil" searches, officials added.

The campaign utilized TV and internet ads, online banners and outdoor media including a digital Times Square billboard.

The 1,673 television insertions generated 14,601,639 impacts [a measurement used to estimate the number of times the pieces were viewed by the public]. Outdoor media included one million insertions which generated 38 million impacts, and internet content generated 52 million hits, 12 million video views and 127,000 clicks on the Visit Brasil website.

"The United States is the second-largest source of travelers to Brazil," said Silvio Nascimento, Embratur's president. "So, it's a market that we always need to keep on our radar. In the coming weeks we should launch another campaign for this audience."

The U.S. emerged as Brazil's second tourist source market in pre-pandemic 2019. Nearly 600,000 Americans visited Brazil that year, second only to the nearly two million Argentinians who traveled to Brazil that year. The country hosted 2.1 million international visitors in 2020, a 66 percent decline in international tourists compared with 2019. American visitors fell from 590,520 in 2019 to 172,105 in 2020. Embratur has not yet issued arrival figures for 2021.

Embratur's ads highlighted Brazil's primary tourist destinations, including the waterfalls of Foz do Iguaçu, the Northeast beaches and Brazilian gastronomy, culture and hospitality. The campaign also spotlighted actions taken by Brazil to keep citizens and visitors safe during the Covid 19 pandemic, including the adoption of health security protocols, and the creation of a "Responsible Tourism" seal, issued by the Ministry of Tourism.