Marcelo Freixo Becomes President of Brazil Tourism
The new president of the Brazilian Agency for International Tourism Promotion (Embratur), Marcelo Freixo, has taken office with a focus on revamping Brazil’s image abroad to attract more tourists and create jobs in the country. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva appointed Freixo on Friday, January 13.
“After four years of international isolation caused by the irresponsibility of the former government, Brazil will return to the global stage to resume its leading role in promoting dialogue, cooperation, and environmental issues and climate change. At Embratur, our mission will be to give Brazilian tourism the relevance it deserves, and that the world expects from us,” he explained.
On the same day that he assumed the presidency of Embratur, Freixo announced that the first step will be an internal reorganization. “We will carry out technical and transparent management, based on good market practices. We are going to resume the focus on marketing, promotion, and supporting the commercialization of Brazil abroad, based on data intelligence, partnerships with the public and private sectors, investments in innovation, insertion of the sustainability agenda and climate actions, and focus on results,” he announced.
The new president plans to work together with ministers whose work is directly related to creating public policies and programs aimed at promoting tourism abroad. “In addition to integrating our actions into the foreign policy agenda and that of various ministries in the Lula government, we will resume dialogue with the market and entities that carry out international promotion. We are going to build a modern, professional, efficient Embratur committed to sustainable development,” said Freixo.
MEET MARCELO FREIXO
The new president of Embratur, Marcelo Freixo, 55 years old, is a history teacher and was born in a poor community in São Gonçalo, a city in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. The eldest son of a humble family, Freixo was elected state deputy in Rio de Janeiro for the first time in 2006. Freixo ran for mayor of Rio de Janeiro twice, in 2012 and 2016, and for the state government in 2022. Elected as a congressman in 2018, the same year that Jair Bolsonaro became president of the Republic, Freixo was the leader of the opposition to the government, which led him to be twice named best parliamentarian in Brazil and the recipient of the Congress in Focus Award. Marcelo Freixo was a key player in the transition team of the Lula Government, integrating the tourism group.
