So here we are back in Rio. Lonely Planet’s A perfect day in Rio de Janeiro, published quite a while ago, contains quite a few ideas for 24 hours in Rio. Mind you, if you were to visit all the places listed on the article you would need much more than just a day. Nonetheless, plenty of excellent ideas from where you can pick and mix. Make sure you compare the information from Lonely Planet’s article with the one given at 48 hours in Rio de Janeiro – what to do, where to go.

Our blog’s main entry on the most visited Brazilian city is destination: Rio de Janeiro. If you’re planning a trip to Brazil we strongly advice you to purchase International Travel Insurance.

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Today’s blog post consolidates texts from all our sources on Brazil, including this Brazil Travel Blog but also D Airfare and the World Cup Brazil 2014. This is a summary of blog posts published during the month of October.

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Brazil Travel Blog

The month began with a look at yet another institutional video, with the main tourist sights of the state of Minas Gerais. The list of videos is coming to an end.

We embarked on a virtual trip along the coastline of Brazil to find out more about nudism and nudist beaches, a topic on which we hadn’t written much yet.

Our weekly shot saw how we had lunch by the majestic river Negro.

This time it is not just us who state the obvious: Brazil needs new strategies to attract foreign tourists. The way the promotion of Brazil as a tourist destination is being handled, I would also suggest a replacement of those responsible for it, bringing in people aware of the way travelers plan their trips in 2012.

We saw how the population of Rio de Janeiro perceive the tourism potential of their own city.

Back on the Amazon we learned a bit more about rubber and sustainable development in the region. If you get the chance to do some community-based tourism in the region you’ll see rubber tapping first-hand.

As the carnival dates approach we turned our eyes to carnaval de rua 2012, the Rio carnival on the streets.

To finish the month, we traveled to the Brazilian capital to learn more about its 25 years as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

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D Airfare

American airline Delta intends to increase its presence in Brazil.

A new international route to Brazil is on the cards as Aerosur announces route São Paulo – Santa Cruz – Ciudad de Panamá.

Things are moving on the airport sector as on 6 February there will be an auction for the running of three Brazilian airports. In the meantime, we observed in admiration the incredible growth of Viracopos airport, in São Paulo.

A promo code issued by TAM airlines gave a 15% discount in flights to Europe.

As a result of a decision taken by the Argentinian authorities, Lan was forced to rescheduled flights from Buenos Aires to São Paulo.

There are new connections to Germany on the way, as Lufthansa adds an additional weekly flight to its Frankfurt to Rio de Janeiro flight.

A new option to fly between Argentina and Brazil emerges as Turkish wants to fly from São Paulo to Buenos Aires.

Good news at the airport as passengers will hopefully have a slightly easier ride through customs.

A new international route to Brazil is established as Copa announces its new Panama City to Recife flight.

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The World Cup Brazil

The never-ending struggle between FIFA and the Brazilian authorities continues.

It is being announced that Brazilians will be heard on the choice of the World Cup mascot.

We were not that surprised to know that Russia’s World Cup preparations are ahead of Brazil’s.

The government of Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, wants to dedicate 2012 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the city’s designation as a World Heritage Site. The reasons for Unesco’s decision can be read at its website:

Brasilia, a capital created ex nihilo in the centre of the country in 1956, was a landmark in the history of town planning. Urban planner Lucio Costa and architect Oscar Niemeyer intended that every element – from the layout of the residential and administrative districts (often compared to the shape of a bird in flight) to the symmetry of the buildings themselves – should be in harmony with the city’s overall design. The official buildings, in particular, are innovative and imaginative.

When we visited Brasilia its spectacular cathedral was undergoing renovation work. For that reason we couldn’t contemplate it at its very best.

Now that restoration work is completed I’d love to invite you for a beautiful virtual walkthrough inside the cathedral on the following 360° image of the cathedral of Brasilia.

Brasilia is one of the Brazilian destinations we have covered at length here at the Brazil Travel Blog. At destination: Brasilia you will read the basics while at sighsteeing in Brasilia we gave you a complete round-up of the main tourist sights in the city. And we gave a free photo ebook to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Brasilia.

Brasilia is a must-see place in Brazil (it features on our very own 10 places in Brazil) and we encourage you to include it in your itinerary around the country.

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Over the last few years the Rio carnaval de rua, the carnival on streets, has experienced booming popularity. Admittedly, the carnival on the street lacks the sumptuous visuals of the Sambadrome parades. But it is no match when it comes to force, energy, espontaneity and popular participation. To take part in the street carnival, after all, no purchase of expensive tickets is required. Actually, you don’t need to purchase any tickets at all.

The official website of the Rio tourism authorities has just launched the official guide to the Carnaval de Rua Rio 2012 where you will find the dates and locations of the street parties. The core of the party are the blocos, carnival groups parading throughout town.

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RELATED POSTS:
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During our trip to wonderful Alter do Chão (more info at destination: Alter do Chão and the river Tapajós) we saw first-hand how rubber is extracted in the Amazon and learned about its importance both for the local communities and the environment. Seeing with your own eyes how rubber is harvested (or “tapped”) leads you to a better understanding of the importance of natural rubber for the preservation of the forest. Rubber prevents the advance of deforestation and intensive agriculture. Local communities preserve their rubber trees as they provide part of their income.

Don’t miss the chance to visit a local community along the Amazon and its tributaries. There are Sustainable Use Conservation Units, Family based agriculture Settlement Projects and Private Reserves in the states of Acre, Amazonas, Pará and Rondônia.

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RELATED POSTS:
the Amazon: an index of blog posts

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Professor Bayard Boiteaux’s blog released a few months ago the results of a survey where cariocas (inhabitants of Rio) where asked how they see the place where they live from a tourist point of view: Como o carioca percebe o Rio,como produto turístico?

Here’s the translation of some of those findings. In brackets, the percentage of replies for each option.

What is the tourist icon of Rio de Janeiro?

1. Corcovado Mountain (40%)
2. Sugar Loaf Mountain (28%)
3. Maracaná (10%)
4. Copacabana (8%)
5. Floresta da Tijuca (6%)
6. Sambadrome (5%)
7. Botanic Gardens (3%)

Do you see Rio as being a tourist city?

• Yes (70%)
• No (30%)

Which tourist sights have you visited?

1. the beaches (50%)
2. Quinta da Boa Vista (22%)
3. Sugar Loaf Mountain (15%)
4. Corcovado Mountain (12%)

What are the main problems of Rio?

1. traffic (35%)
2. dirt (28%)
3. safety (20%)
4. rocketing prices (14%)
5. public transportation (3%)

What are the most positive aspects of Rio?

1. the joyful nature of its population (30%)
2. informal character (25%)
3. natural beauty (20%)
4. wide range of leisure activities (15%)
5. football (10%)

Always interesting to learn how the inhabitants of a tourist destination see themselves. Our HQ for all the info regarding Rio de Janeiro is this blog’s entry: destination: Rio de Janeiro.

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RELATED POSTS:
48 hours in Rio de Janeiro – what to do, where to go
hotels in Rio de Janeiro
budget accommodation in Rio de Janeiro
the Rio de Janeiro subway
map of Rio de Janeiro
a new Rio pass is launched
the new official Rio Guide
Rio de Janeiro’s Michelin guide for free
hang-gliding in Rio de Janeiro
Rio bus station: Terminal Novo Rio
double-decker hop on-hop off tourist bus for Rio de Janeiro

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The title of this blog post is not my own. It is rather a statement by the World Tourism Organization (Brasil precisa de novas estratégias para atrair turistas, diz OMT). One day, with plenty of time in my hands and the stimulus to do so, I am going to write a thorough analysis of everything that is wrong with the way Brazil sells itself abroad. Let me be clear, the “new strategies” do not involve circus acts (spending a fortune on a billboard when so many basic things are needed is not the way forward) or plagiarism (I’m still awaiting for a contact from the Brazilian goverment to explain the unauthorized use of blog content I was victim of).

Unless a radical change takes place in the way the promotion of Brazil as a tourist destination is conducted, all that Brazil will be able to celebrate is achieving the figure of 5.3 million foreign tourists – a record-number reached in 2000 and matched just now in 2011), a figure that leaves Brazil as an insignificant player in world tourism. The new strategies must above all embrace the way travelers of the XXI make their travel plans.

While we had lunch at a humble and very popular fish restaurant in Manaus (the off-the-beaten track peixaria do Jokka Loureiro), we enjoyed the view of the majestic river Negro on its very last kilometres of life – shortly after Manaus it becomes the mighty Amazon. Boats going up and down the river were our lunch companions while we stared at a mass of water our brain had problems processing as just a river.

We have published quite a few blog posts here at the Brazil Travel Blog on the Amazon, including an index of blog posts on the Amazon and an entry for Manaus.

Nudism in Brazil is restricted to a handful of official nudist beaches – and extended in an unofficial way to a series of other remote beaches. If you want to go nude or topless make sure you check it is allowed wherever you are. The general rule is: minute (nearly invisible) bikini? Yes, you can. No bikini top? No, you can’t. If you read Portuguese you will the see the reality is slight more complex: A polêmica do topless nas praias do Rio de Janeiro. But as a rule of thumb, that should do.

There is no law in Brazil regulating naturism. For that reason, official nudist beaches receive that recognition from the local authorities. The Brazilian portal UOL put together a map of the official nudist beaches in Brazil.

They are:

• Abricó (in Rio de Janeiro)
• Barra Seca (in Linhares, Espírito Santo)
• Galheta (in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina)
• Massarandupió (in Entre Rios, Bahia)
• Olho-de-boi (in Búzios, Rio de Janeiro)
• Pino (in Balneario Camboriú, Santa Catarina)
• Pedras (in Palhoça, Santa Catarina)
• Tambaba (in Conde, Paraíba)

Here at the Brazil Travel Blog we published our own list of top 10 Brazilian beaches, in case you want to have a look at it. Of the clothed version, mind you!

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This is the tenth on a series of videos produced by the Brazilian tourism authorities. They all have a common theme: those states that will host 2014 World Cup games. During the coming weeks we will present all those videos here in the blog. They are shortish videos, with conventional but beautiful images of the states and its main destinations. Today’s video is devoted to the state of Minas Gerais.

Minas Gerais:

We have plenty of information on the state of Minas Gerais here at the Brazil Travel Blog, with destination cards for Belo Horizonte, the Cidades Históricas, Inhotim, Mariana and Ouro Preto.

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institutional videos: state of Amazonas
institutional videos: Rio de Janeiro