Forget the tropical beaches of Salvador de Bahia, Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro and the wonders of the Amazon forest. With an average of 14 million tourists a year, São Paulo is the main tourist destination not only in Brazil, but in all of Latin America.
They are driving the flow of visitors especially business travel. According to the Tourism Observatory of the city of São Paulo, in fact, 43% of tourists travel for business or work reasons, while 25% do it for the sake of pleasure. 16% instead visit friends and relatives, while 6% go to São Paulo to participate in major events, such as fashion week, the Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Gay Parade, the Carnival and music festivals. Only 3% instead choose the city for study reasons.
Leading the ranking of attendances in 2011 were Americans (15,7%), followed by the Argentines (12,6%) and more detached from the Italians (5,5%), practically on a par with the Germans and British (5,4%). Stars and Stripes tourists are also among the most "spending" with an average of 147 euros spent per day, behind only Canadians (154 euros). Italians are instead among the most thrifty (112 euros per day): only Argentines, Mexicans and Bolivians spend less.
In addition to the mega cultural, sporting and tourist events that the city periodically offers, St. Paul also exerts great charm from an architectural point of view, thanks to the historic buildings in the center and the constructions of the famous Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. In recent years, the Paulista fashion market has projected the city onto the world scene, consecrating it as one of the world's fashion capitals.
“We must not forget that São Paulo offers cultural options for all tastes and budgets – explains Flavia Liz di Paolo, a guide specializing in luxury tourism -. Here are the best museums, galleries and art fairs in the southern hemisphere. Those who love entertainment will find the best nightlife in Brazil, the largest Gay Parade in the world and the only Formula 1 and Formula Indy circuit in Latin America”.
Playing a further role is also the gastronomic tourism: In fact, São Paulo has more restaurants than New York, even if it loses out on the culinary variety front. The fixed stop for those who love fashion are the boutiques and ateliers of Rua Oscar Freire, voted the eighth most luxurious street in the world, according to a study by Excellence Mystery Shopping International.
On the other hand, luxury tourism is proving to be a very important niche in the sector: "It means having access to places and people outside the usual circuits - specifies Di Paolo - For this reason, customers seek thematic and personalized tours, which can vary from the gastronomic tour to the artistic one, from the sports one to the one to discover the favelas".
The most requested tailor-made visits are above all managers, authorities, military, doctors and foreign journalists: "Italians are few – admits Di Paolo, who is fluent in six languages, including Dante´s language – I would like them to be more, but I must say that there is a Roman family that comes to look for me every year”.
And even if the tourism market in Italy "is light years ahead of Brazil", here there is no shortage of possibilities: "We are just crawling, but I am confident for the future and luxury tourism will be a very important niche".
