São Paulo – The government of the state of São Paulo has devised a strategy for offering leisure options other than football games to foreign and domestic visitors expected in the namesake capital São Paulo during the FIFA World Cup. This Wednesday (9th) saw the launch of a travel guide listing attractions available in the capital and the rest of the state. São Paulo is expecting 1.2 million visitors during the Cup, 300,000 of which will be foreigners.
“Our job is to showcase what our state has to offer,” says Carolina Fontes, the events manager of Comitê Paulista 2014 (the 2014 São Paulo State Committee), an organization linked to the state government in charge of handling World Cup-related affairs. Past experiences have shown that World Cup tourists want to do other things as well, hence the guide, according to the events manager.
Another important piece of information on crafting the guide is the fact that World Cup tourists don’t travel farther than 300 kilometres or longer than 3 days, because they take their trips in between games. The guide has 236 pages and features 55 routes in 49 municipalities, with options lasting one, two or three days. It is divided into four sections – beach and sun, culture and leisure, food and beverage, adventure and nature – and there are versions available in English, Portuguese and Spanish.
The guide will be distributed to travel agencies and organizations, airlines, consulates, football federations in World Cup participating countries, city halls, and the press. It features information on destinations, but not complete travel packages. According to Fontes, agencies will be allowed to based their packages around it, and tourists will be able to refer to the guide with no need for a travel agency, if they choose to travel by themselves. The information is expected to reach foreigners via the press, agencies and consulates as well.
Fontes believes the most successful routes among foreigners will be beach and sun and adventure and nature. “The profile of the World Cup crowd, mostly young men, they will be seeking leisure,” says the manager. The majority of foreigners travelling to Brazil will be actual national teams’ members. There are fans who will travel alongside their national teams. Algeria is the sole Arab country playing the 2014 World Cup. The Algerian team will stay in Sorocaba, in the state of São Paulo.
The guide is fairly didactical and comprehensive. It includes information on the state and the services available, such as airports, roads, how to make telephone calls, a section with information on the World Cup in São Paulo, profiles of football players born in the state, and then the routes. One-day tour suggestions include a visit to Santos; two-day tours include gastronomical tours in Campos do Jordão and Santo Antônio do Pinhal; the three-day options include trips to the waterfalls and beaches of Ilhabela and São Sebastião.
The city of São Paulo is hosting six World Cup matches. The first one is the opening match, on June 12th, between Brazil and Croatia. The second match is due on June 19th, Uruguay vs. England, the third one is on June 23rd, Netherlands vs. Chile, and the fourth one will be played on June 26th, Belgium vs. South Korea. The last two matches will be played on July 1st and 9th, the former being a part of the round of sixteen, and the latter a part of the semi-finals. The teams playing these matches will depend on the results of prior matches.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
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