Brazil and South Africa have signed an agreement to foster collaboration between the two countries in their tourism initiatives.

The agreement, which proposes the sharing of tourism-related information and the identification of the challenges the sector faces in each country, was signed by the Ministers of Tourism of both Brazil and South Africa – Celso Sabino and Patricia de Lille, respectively – at the 2023 edition of the World Travel Market London, on Tuesday 6 November.

The Minister of Tourism for South Africa said there were many similarities between the people of both nations, which is driving the investments in the joint promotion.

Minister de Lille said talks had been ongoing since 2014 but the agreement between the two countries was ratified three weeks ago in Cape Town during a meeting of BRICS Tourism Ministers meeting in Cape Town.

The Action Plan was signed by Minister de Lille and Brazil’s Minister of Tourism Celso Sabino on joint marketing and collaboration efforts geared towards growing tourism between South Africa and Brazil.

The agreement coincides with the relaunch of national airline SAA’s direct flights from Cape Town and Johannesburg to Sao Paulo after three years. The Cape Town service launched on 31 October 2023 and the Johannesburg on 6 November, the first day at WTM.

Minister de Lille said: “What’s included in the marketing action plan does not just cover tourism. We’re working together to get more trade between our two countries and boost both economies.

“One area we will be looking at together is what aspects of Brazil’s tourism offer can we market to our travellers other than Carnival. And similarly, other than safaris and wildlife, what can we show to Brazilians to persuade them to visit South Africa,” she said.

Culinary tourism is one area which would appeal to both, she suggested, along with city breaks and sports.

Meanwhile, Minister de Lille said the South Africa Government has signed an agreement with Google to highlight and promote its tourist attractions, including 3,000 adventure activities and “help us put on the Google Map”.

She said: “We want to begin to attract the world to our communities, different cultures, different food. We want people to experience the real people of South Africa.”

Between January and September this year, South Africa welcomed over 6.1 million tourists, up 58.4% on the same period in 2022.

During this period, visitors from Africa represented 4.6 million of the total arrivals to South Africa.

South Africa welcomed more than 862,000 arrivals from Europe between January and September this year, a 51% increase on the same period last year.

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PHOTO: from left to the right: Marcelo Freixo, Embratur President, Patricia de Lille, Minister of Tourism of South Africa, Celso Sabino de Oliveira, Minister of Tourism of Brazil