Brazil Tourism's President on Building a Tourism Brand Around Big Events at Skift Forum

Vinicius Lummertz, President of the Brazilian Tourism Board, spoke today at the Skift Global Forum.

Lummertz became president in June of an organization charged with modernizing Brazil's brand for the world's largest global event--The 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. He's a former official of Brazil's Ministry of Tourism where he's credited with authoring the ministry's National Tourism Plan and transforming travel into one of the largest industries in the country.

Lummertz's talk "Building a Tourism Brand Around Big Events," explored the steps Brazil has already taken and the actions it still needs to complete to prepare the country for the largest global stage. Here are three things we learned:

• Attracting investment is a key focus. Bringing more private investment to the 2016 Olympics, which so far has 60% private investment, is key.
• Plans to build a $2 billion aviation hub to be built in northern Brazil will be announced later this year. Lummertz wants to bring more familiar American brands to the country for U.S. travelers.
• Pushing to bring the visa waiver process to Americans beyond the 90 days for the Olympics next summer. Americans spend $1 billion in Brazil but Brazilians spend $13 billion in the U.S.

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And thanks to all the sponsors that made Skift Global Forum 2015 possible: Adobe, Amadeus, American Express, Boxever, Big Bus Tours, CendyneOne, Cheapoair, Criteo, Gogo, HelloGbye, Hornblower Cruises, MasterCard, Mindtree, National Geographic, NewsCred, Sabre, SiteMinder, Travel Channel, TurkeyHome, Uber, Underline, Virtuoso, and Yahoo.