World Travel Market LATAM starts its second edition in Sao Paulo

We take this opportunity to discover a bustling market, full of enthusiasm despite the slight cooling of the Brazilian economy which “only” grows 2% per year (a figure we have not had for five years in Spain, but unacceptably low in a country like Brazil).

First observation: the schedule. The show starts at 12.00 and ends at 20.00 every day, something apparently common here and even accentuated in the north. The idea makes some sense: it gives people time to stop by the office before going to the fair, and not have to be out of the office for entire days.

We attend a classical tourism fair, with some new features, such as the area in which we see innovative companies: Mooveteam with its google Glass and gamification solutions, Many Colors Group with fully immersive glasses and augmented reality applications. Mooveteam even presents the applications of Google Glass for incentives and tourism in the training programme.

The fair also features a hosted buyers programme, a trademark of RTE, although most of the 9,000 visitors expected come with no committed appointments.

The whole planet is represented, in a strong tourism fair with a limited MICE touch but which is clearly establishing itself as a must for this emerging continent. The convention bureaus are generally represented. Talking to them, we see that the lower growth is limiting enthusiasm, but Brazil is still in a moment of high international prominence.

More info on here.