Cruises to Brazil
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June 9th, 2010
The Brazilian coast is nearly 8,000 km (5,000 miles) long, the best part of which in the tropical zone; several Brazilian capitals are located by the sea. The country seems to have potential to be a popular destination of cruises.
However, by visiting the sites of the biggest and most popular cruise operators, such as Royal Caribbean, Carnival Lines, Princess and Norwegian, one notices that there are few options, if any at all, of cruises to Brazil.
There are a few explanations for such. The most important reason is that, until 1995, only national flag ships could sail between Brazilian ports. Until then, most international cruise operators stayed away from Brazil; the only company which registered ships in Brazil was Italian Costa Cruises, which dominated the Brazilian market for decades.
Since 1995, other cruisers have slowly started to come to Brazil, but they face two big problems: Brazilians (except for a small elite) are not used to cruises, and the ports are not prepared to receive big crowds.
This situation, however, is likely to change until 2014.
The main reason is that cruises will be used as accommodation. Hotels are being built, but not in enough numbers to accommodate all visitors during the peak moments of the World Cup. In big events such as Carnival and New Year in Rio, it is already common to see tourists staying in cruisers, instead of hotels.
Besides, it is expected that, with the massive exposition of Brazil in the media, tourists will be more interested in destinations such as Fernando de Noronha, Natal, Fortaleza and others, and the operators will start to offer more packages to Brazil.
July 22nd, 2010 at 5:29 pm
[...] The Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) has made $563m available to lend to private hotel projects, because many towns will have to build more rooms. The authorities also have agreed to spend $414m on upgrading ports where cruise ships could function as hotels. [...]
July 26th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
[...] Belo Horizonte and Brasilia want to host the opening match of the Cup, but one serious restriction they face is their limited availability of hotel rooms. In Rio de Janeiro, where the final match of the Cup will be staged, cruisers will be used as hotel rooms. [...]