Registrations for Brazi’ls International Tourism Acceleration Program (PATI) will end next Friday, May 17. Published in the Official Gazette of the Union on March 20, this program proposes a public-private partnership with airlines and airports to increase the number of seats and international flights to Brazil.
Implemented by the Brazilian Agency for International Tourism Promotion (Embratur) and funded by the National Civil Aviation Fund, the public announcement, developed in collaboration with the Ministries of Tourism and Ports and Airports, invites airlines and airports (in partnership with airlines) to launch new international flights from and to Brazil, and to submit investment proposals for the promotion of these flights. This includes advertising campaigns in the country of origin and promotional trips with journalists, digital influencers, and foreign tourism operators at the flight destinations, among other activities, as reported by our affiliated media in Brazil, Aeroin.
Marcelo Freixo, president of the agency, emphasizes the pioneering character of PATI in Brazil and how it can boost the country’s international air network: «We have never before carried out a program with these characteristics. To develop PATI, we studied promotion policies from countries such as the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, and Sweden. Achieving the goals of international tourism growth in Brazil is intrinsically linked to a market factor, which is air connectivity. The growing international interest in visiting Brazil would be futile without direct flights or short connections at competitive prices.»
In this initial phase of testing and adjustments of the new tool for attracting flights, an investment of at least 7 million reais (~USD 1.4 million), half with public resources, is anticipated. Embratur will fund part of the promotion actions for these new air routes, allocating 40 reais (~USD 8) per seat on new flights landing in Brazil from October 27, 2024, to March 29, 2025.
Point System
The announcement establishes increasing scores for proposals that project a private investment greater than the public one, while imposing penalties on the scoring of proposals with counteroffers less than the value invested by Embratur.
To request the resource, the company must ensure an increase in the air network compared to the 2023/2024 season, and the resources will be linked to the new seats. The announcement also establishes criteria that favor flights departing from countries considered «strategic markets,» because they are already large issuers of tourists to Brazil or because they are significant international emitters.
An example of this are Germany and China, the second and third largest tourist emitters in the world, respectively, but they only occupy the eighth and twentieth positions among the countries that visit Brazil the most. In 2023, more than 60% of the German tourists who visited Brazil did so via flights with connections in other European countries, highlighting the low connectivity with the country.
To promote the expansion of connectivity between the largest number of countries, with direct flights to different destinations in Brazil, preference will also be given to proposals for creating routes that depart from airports that do not have direct flights to Brazil, or from countries that do not have direct flights to a Brazilian airport.
The highest weekly frequency of the flights will also be rewarded with more points, as well as the convenience of the arrival and departure times, preferring the interval between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., more attractive to tourists arriving in the country.
Finally, proposals that use more modern aircraft, which emit less carbon into the atmosphere, and companies that have committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN’s 2030 Agenda, with policies on sustainability and the environment, combating human trafficking, women’s care, social inclusion, and diversity, are valued more highly.
