Sao Paulo, Brazil, 17 Jan – China International Travel Services (CITS), China’s largest tourism company, will bring together in February in Sao Paulo, Brazilian government representatives, the new Chinese ambassador to Brazil and sector companies in order to promote China as a tourist destination, Paul Liu, president of the Brazil-China Economic Development Chamber (CBCDE) told Macauhub.

“Many young Brazilians want to study in China, businessmen want new businesses. But they don’t go to China because they prefer a country they know better,” said Liu.

As well as introducing China to Brazilians, CITS, which according to the CBCDE, has hired over 500 operators in Brazil, plans to find more partnerships with Brazilian tourist operators, Liu said.

The event, “China: the tourist destination for Brazilians,” scheduled for February 6, will be attended by the new Chinese ambassador to Brazil, Chen Duqing, and will be a two-hour presentation on China and videos showing Chinese cities, landscapes and tourist spots, said the CBCDE president.

“The growing interest in China is expected to double, within three years, the number of Brazilians visiting the country,” Liu projected, saying however that those figures would only be reached if greater efforts were made to promote China as a tourist destination.

In 2006, some 15 to 20,000 Brazilians visited China, said the CBCDE representative, basing himself on figures from the Chinese immigration service and Chamber calculations. “It was a significant increase, but it is still a small number,” he added.

At this first event – Liu said there would be others like it – the aim was to mainly promote leisure tourism. “Business comes after leisure, the businessperson first visits the country, then returns to do negotiate,” said the CBCDE president.

“It will also be an opportunity for Brazilians to find out, for example, that it is possible to make a week-long trip to China by spending US$3,000, especially now with new flights,” said Liu.

Liu also said that he planned to hold similar events in China. “We are trying to set up an event like this over there (in China), so that we can also awaken the interest of the Chinese in Brazil,” Liu concluded. (macauhub)