Purpose of website
The aim of this website is to evaluate Brazil's resources to find out whether it is viable destination for a large cultural festival.
Mobilities and the Experience Economy
Mobilities involves the movement of people, materials, information and ideas across the world and is used in everyday life (Hannam, Sheller, and Urry, 2006). Experiences can be conceptualised as products and its important as part of the experience economy (Harvard Business Review, 1998). These concepts can be linked to a country's tourism because of globalisation. With an expanded audience it is important that information/marketing of events is accessible for everyone as well as physical transport. It is important for the customers to enjoy their experiences so that future recommendations are made.
Distinctive Characteristics of Brazil
Extraordinary wildlife
Brazil is not short for wildlife, most of which is likely to be found in the largest rain forest in the world, The Amazon (Boniface et al., 2012, 546). With the Amazon taking over half of Brazil's total area, it is not surprising that there is an array of wildlife that would not be found in more urbanised cities (Chandler, 2014). Being one of the best places in the planet to view a variety of species, it is thought that Winter would be the best time to visit. Their summer is between June and September (Lonely Planet, 2007a).
Healthy lifestyles of residents
The residents living in Brazil have such a wide variety of beaches for them to tan their bodies. It is more apparent that the cult of the "body-beautiful" is central for the people of Brazil as they live their hedonistic lifestyles. Therefore domestic tourists are more likely to enjoy beach holidays (Boniface et al., 2012, 547).
highly religious country
In Brazil, there are many places of worship and cathedrals across the country. It is also the home to the iconic religious, and globally recognised statue, Christ the Redeemer. Locals recognise this statue as not just a religious symbol but a cultural symbol and a symbol of Brazil itself (BBC, 2014).
Visitor Statistics
Figure 1 shows that there was an increase in international tourists from 2010-2015. The main increase in arrivals is seen in 2014 with a 10.6% increase. This increase in arrivals could have been because of Fifa 2014 World Cup. However although there was an increase, it was not continuous as there was a 1.9% decrease in international tourists from 2014-2015. This could imply that the mega event did not have an immediate impact the following year. Ultimately however, looking at the amount of tourists visiting before 2014 and after, it is evident the mega event increased international tourism as whole and brought more tourism receipts.
International Travel
It was found in 2009 there was 6.8 million tourists (Boniface et al., 2012, 547). This shows that the country is popular for international tourism in South America. This could be due to Brazil having a strong business sector that attracts many business tourists. However, the majority of tourists that visit Brazil come for leisure. This is found that the holiday demand is very seasonal and is mostly found to be at its highest over the months of Rio Carnival (Boniface et al., 2012, 547).
Domestic Travel
In 2010 there were 68 million domestic trips taken within Brazil. This could be because employees in Brazil are guaranteed a 48 hour working week and annual paid holiday (Boniface et al., 2012, 547-548). However the reason for the abundance of domestic trips is because of the low income that Brazilians get, it means they are more likely to use small hotels, or visit friends and relatives to save money. It works out for domestic tourists anyways as it is commonly found they are more interested in beach holidays, and Brazil has many famous beaches to accommodate (Boniface et al., 2012, 547-548).
Location and transport to/around Brazil
In terms of importing and transporting goods around Brazil, it is found that many vehicles used ethanol that was from the sugarcane produced. This is because the country lacks petroleum so they pioneered the use of biofuels (Boniface et al., 2012, 547-548). This has its limitations however as this can lead to the destruction of the forest, as well as air and water pollution. Brazil as a country has nine international airports. This would make it evident that it is considered to have a well-developed air network, however, it has shown to have inadequate port facilities and outdated railway systems (Boniface et al., 2012, 547-548).
Natural Resources
Pantanal
Copacabana Beach
Copacabana beach is a well-known beach in Rio de Janeiro, it also extends over four kilometres (Lonely Planet, 2007b).
There is always plenty of activities to join in with many residents playing sports or lounging on sunbeds across the sections. There are different sections on the beach for different people going to the beach; gay and cross-dresser section, young football and volleyball players, mix of favela children and carioca retirees, and a fisherman's colony (Lonely Planet, 2007b).
Ipanema Beach
Similarly, to Copacabana beach, Ipanema beach has different parts marked off for different subcultures; a section for artists and hippies who like to hang out there, and a section for the gay society. Ipanema is known as the more fashionable beach in Rio de Janeiro (Lonely Planet, 2007c).
It is known that the sand and sea is cleaner than that of Copacabana. However, there are words of warning for tourists wanting to swim in the seas, Ipanema means "bad, dangerous waters". This could be quite accurate with the oversized waves having a strong current with them (Lonely Planet, 2007c).
Cultural Resources
Metropolitan cathedral of brasilia
Salvador de Bahia
Teatro Amazonas
Key Events
Olympics 2016
The Olympics are a mega event that in 2016 was held in Rio de Janeiro. This is considered a key event as it has major television coverage all over the world which promotes Brazil (RIO 2016, 2016).
New Years at Copacabana
Over two million people gathered at the famous beach to celebrate the new year (Lomas, 2016). This would be considered a key event because of the amount of people that it has attracted. It is Brazil's most popular New Year's Eve display and with roughly two miles of white sandy beaches, who could argue that it is the best place to admire a fireworks display (Lomas, 2016).
World cup 2014
The World Cup was a mega event that was held in Rio de Janeiro in 2014. There were over five million people that attended and again this event had much television coverage that helps promote Brazil (F.A., 2014).
Rio Carnvial
Rio Carnival is an annual festival that occurs in February before the beginning of Lent. It is also one of the largest cultural festivals in the world, bringing thousands of international tourists each year. It is found the greatest tourist activity is during the months of Carnival (Rio Carnival, 2016). With Brazilians being known to love celebrations, it would be inconceivable to think about Rio de Janiero without thinking about Carnival, it has become part of the image of the community as well as the city (Rio Carnival, 2016).
The video that is attached shows the highlights of the Carnival in action. This involves many floats going down the street while many Brazilians and tourists from around the world come, enjoy and embrace in the festivities. The celebrations can be heard throughout the city, day and night. This rejoices and brings together the community with internationals to enjoy the remarkable Carnival (Rio Carnival, 2016).
Analysis of Tourism and Events
Strengths - It is evident that Brazil offers a wide range of natural assets in many of its cities which attracts many tourists. The country also has many iconic features that are appealing and attractive to international tourists. Mega events like the Olympics and the World Cup give good coverage and advertisements globally. This can increase international tourism and the economy of the country.
Weaknesses - There is an issue with crime in Brazil as there are many parts of the country that are very poor. There is an issue with wealthy international tourists coming to a less economically developed country and this can lead to locals stealing from tourists. Another weaknesses would look at the high cost of the infrastructure. When a country hosts mega events, because of the amount of television coverage and global advertisement, it can be less economically beneficial of the country.
Opportunities - Brazil, as mentioned earlier, is a very religious country with all the many different places of worship throughout the country. The most iconic religious statue is Christ the Redeemer. This can be an opportunity for Brazil as it can bring many religious groups to come and admire. The country also has had much global recognition from mega events over the years, such as the Olympics 2016, and the World Cup 2014. The legacy from these mega events is shown evident in visitor statistics as the World Cup increased the country's tourism. It gives Brazil the chance to show off all the best features to a bigger audience of potential visitors.
Threats - When running mega events in a less economically developed country like Brazil, it would make sense for them to employ poor locals to charge them less for manual labour and save money. However, the problem with this is that is locals are less likely to comply and rebel then this could affect the production of the event. There can also problems with the host community that could be a threat to events being held in countries. If the international tourists are not educated in the country's culture then they could end up disrespecting them. Another threat that could affect the production of events in Brazil is the issue of terrorism. Terrorism is likely to strike where there is a mass of people at one time, such as mega events. The increase in tourism could make it a potential target for terrorism. Finally the last threat that could be looked at is the Zika virus that has been spreading around Brazil. It already affected how many people could attend the Olympics 2016 as many people were recommended not to go such as pregnant women (Zika virus in Brazil - Travel health notices, 2016). This could carry on being a potential threat to the country's tourism to events held in Brazil.
References
Boniface, B., Cooper, C., and Cooper, R. (2012) Worldwide Destinations: The Geography of Travel and Tourism, 6th Edition. Milton Park. Oxon: Routledge.
BBC (2014) Arms wide open. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/newsspec_7141/index.html (Accessed: 19 December 2016).
Chandler, G.M. (2014) Traveller’s guide: Brazilian Amazon. The Independent. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/americas/travellers-guide-brazilian-amazon-9036515.html (Accessed: 16 November 2016).
F.A. (2014) 2014 FIFA world cup Brazil™ in numbers. Available at: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2014/m=9/news=2014-fifa-world-cup-braziltm-in-numbers-2443025.html (Accessed: 20 December 2016).
Hannam, K., Sheller, M. and Urry, J. (2006) Editorial: Mobilities, Immobilities and moorings, Mobilities, 1(1), pp. 1–22. doi: 10.1080/17450100500489189.
Harvard Business Review. Welcome to the experience economy (1998) Available at: https://hbr.org/1998/07/welcome-to-the-experience-economy (Accessed: 16 November 2016).
Lomas, C. (2016) New year fireworks: Brazil welcomes Olympic new year. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/12077145/New-Year-fireworks-Brazil-welcomes-Olympic-New-Year.html (Accessed: 16 November 2016).
Lonely Planet. (2007a) Brazil. Available at: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/brazil/wildlife/wildlife-watching (Accessed: 20 December 2016).
Lonely Planet (2007b) Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, brazil. Available at: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/brazil/rio-de-janeiro/attractions/copacabana-beach/a/poi-sig/1099044/1327352 (Accessed: 16 November 2016).
Lonely Planet (2007c) Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro, brazil. Available at: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/brazil/rio-de-janeiro/attractions/ipanema-beach/a/poi-sig/1143622/1334100 (Accessed: 16 November 2016).
Lonely Planet (2007d) The Pantanal, brazil. Available at: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/brazil/the-central-west/the-pantanal/introduction (Accessed: 16 November 2016).
Reed, D. (2016) Manaus’s opulent Amazon theatre – a history of cities in 50 buildings, day 15. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/apr/14/manaus-amazon-theatre-brazil-history-cities-50-buildings (Accessed: 16 November 2016).
RIO 2016 (2016) Available at: https://www.olympic.org/rio-2016 (Accessed: 20 December 2016).
Rio carnival (2016) Available at: http://www.rio.com/rio-carnival (Accessed: 16 November 2016).
Steuerman-Kinston, S. (2012) The Journey of the Modernist Line. Available at: http://www.aaschool.ac.uk/Downloads/WritingPrize/2013Shortlist/SusieKinston.pdf (Accessed: 16 November 2016).
UNWTO (2016) Tourism Highlights, 2016 Edition [date accessed: 16/11/16]. Available from: http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/9789284418145
Zika virus in brazil - alert - level 2, practice enhanced precautions - travel health notices (2016) Available at: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/alert/zika-brazil (Accessed: 18 December 2016).
Credits:
Created with images by Doug Scortegagna - "South Brazil - In Explore 06-23-2015" • Steve Wilson - over 8 million views Thanks !! - "Sitting Pretty" • USFWS Endangered Species - "untitled image" • Frontierofficial - "#Ecuador is the place to be.. with #wildlife and the #amazon it makes a great place to #volunteer.. #gapyear #travelphotography #animals #nature #naturelovers" • Arian Zwegers - "Brasilia, Cathedral of Brasilia" • Francisco Anzola - "Curitiba Cathedral" • jonrawlinson - "Christ the redeemer" • Raphael Milani - "Pantanal" • ASSY - "copacabana views of corcovado rio" • ASSY - "copacabana view from sugarloaf rio de janeiro" • Danipilze - "Ipanema" • Dimitry B - "Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro" • Arian Zwegers - "Brasilia, Cathedral of Brasilia" • polmuadi - "salvador de bahia" • OBORÉ / Projeto Repórter do Futuro - "Teatro Amazonas" • Leandro's World Tour - "Atletismo paralímpico T53/54 - front" • familymwr - "Sgt. Nathan Schrimsher competes in Modern Pentathlon at Rio Olympic Games, Aug. 20, 2016" • marvenic - "rio brazil rio2016" • Leandro's World Tour - "Happy new year!" • acmoraes - "Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha"