56 World Travel Market Latin America Show Guide 2014 WTM Latin America Brand USA
Discover America with Brand USA
Brand USA recently opened its dedicated Brazil office. Alfredo Gonzalez, Senior Vice President – Global Market Development at Brand USA talks about the importance of Brazil and the wider Latin America market to the U.S.
How important is the Brazilian market? For Brand USA and the U.S. as a whole, Brazil is an extremely important and fast-growing market. Last year we saw a 17% increase in Brazilians visiting the U.S. – second only to Australia.
You’ve recently opened your Brand USA office in São Paulo. Tell us about it.
The office has been open for three months. It’s a direct extension of Brand USA. It’s important for Brazil to have a dedicated office, as Brazil is a very mature and diverse market, not only because of the size. The north of Brazil behaves very differently from the south and there are so many flights from different cities that go from Brazil to the U.S. We’re proactively working with travel agents on training, with wholesalers on our wide range of product and experiences and also working with the airlines.
How has the Brazilian travel trade reacted to the office? We’ve had a very positive response from the Brazilian trade. The U.S. has not had an office here since the mid-1990s. The welcome we have received – from government to commercial partners – has been really encouraging.
What’s the next step for tourism from this region? A lot of visitors from Latin America in previous years have been concentrated in the main areas such as Florida, New York and California. What we want to do is to be able to offer all of Latin America and Brazil a more diverse product
Alfredo Gonzalez
so that they can see more of the unique and wide-ranging things we have to offer from coast to coast. We’re spreading the message that there’s much more to explore – more regions, themes, experiences, music, sports, the great outdoors and national parks. We want to show Latin Americans a different angle like never before. The U.S. is a huge part of their travel plans but it has never been approached this way. Our strategy involves training of travel agents, helping tour operators create packages, and working with the airlines to bring visitors through the gateways.
What’s the average stay? Travel patterns varies a lot. Central Americans and Mexicans have a shorter length of stay; visitors from Brazil, Argentina and Chile stay much longer, around 11-14 days. The markets are all very different. I understand this region. I grew up in Colombia and I have worked in Brazil for the last 20 plus years. Previously, I worked for a Brazilian operator that had offices in Rio and São Paulo. Brazil is a very different market from any regional market in South America.
What about trade initiatives We recently created a USA Discovery training program that was launched in the UK. It has been an extremely successful program. It’s going to be translated into Spanish and Portuguese and we will feature that program very shortly. We will be doing FAMs. We have already spoken to several carriers, including TAM, with whom we have had some incredible meetings and who are very supportive and interested in our plans.
You’re a great supporter of WTM Latin America. Why is it so important? Just as WTM London has become a significantly important event, WTM Latin America is very
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