In the first full month of implementation of the electronic visa for US citizens, the number of “round-trip” bookings from Brazil to Brazil grew 37% in February, compared to the same month in 2017, and 6% compared to January 2018 The latter is an atypical movement, for the smallest number of days in the second month of the year. The data is from Destination Insight, Amadeus’s destination intelligence tool.
The electronic visa makes the process of issuing the document simpler for US citizens to enter national soil. Now, the procedure can be done over the internet and, according to information from the Ministry of Tourism, travelers can receive authorization within 72 hours.
The 6% growth in bookings made in February over January is an atypical move if observed the numbers of 2017, when February had 7% less bookings before January of the same year. As there were no leap years in the period, both bases compare 28 days (February) with 31 days (January).
“Visa facilitation is certainly the biggest factor explaining February’s growth. In a month with fewer days, it is only possible to have such a robust increase by a fact that changes the organic numbers of the industry. Throughout the year, we will have an even clearer picture of this benefit of electronic visas, but this first month is already very promising for our destinations, and shows how it is possible to positively influence the number of international visitors with actions that are accurate and that simplify life of the traveler, “said Paulo Rezende, commercial director of Amadeus Brazil.
Searches keep pace pattern
Another curious fact revealed by Amadeus Destination Insight: although the reserves of Americans to Brazil grew 6% over January, travel searches did not follow the same pattern. Data from the Big Data tool show that US buying intentions for Brazil fell 16% in February compared to the previous month, despite showing a strong increase compared to February 2017.
These figures suggest that the US-Brazil conversion rate improved in February, but also points to the possibility of improving the communication of the new visa to the North Americans.
“The drop is always expected in February due to the month being lower. But if the bookings grew, it would be normal to expect an increase in searches as well. As this did not occur, my hypothesis is that the factor that drove the greater conversion of searches into effective reservations was the electronic visa. On the other hand, since there was no increase in demand – more visits by Americans to destinations in Brazil – there was apparently no effective communication to reach the average American that is easier to visit, “added Rezende. .
Destination Insight contains massive, daily and real-time data on the world travel market, including detailing the most sought-after, reserved cities and specific time periods. It offers both gross numbers and percentages of growth and / or fall. To learn more about the product, visit http://latam.amadeus.com/dont-guess-know/bra.
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