City of Rio to receive 165,000 tourists during cruise season

The cruise season in Rio de Janeiro starts this weekend. The first ship arrives this Saturday (4) at the port. In all, there will be 57 berthings of 22 ships (18 international and four national) by the end of the season, in May 2022.

During this period approximately 165,000 tourists are expected. According to the Brazilian Association of Maritime Cruises, maritime tourism should inject US$ 50 million into the capital of Rio de Janeiro.

Rio de Janeiro is the state with the largest number of destinations for cruise travelers. In addition to the capital, the cities of Búzios, Angra dos Reis, Ilha Grande and Cabo Frio are also on the itinerary.

Before the pandemic, the expectation for the port of Rio was to receive 400 thousand tourists between November 2020 and April 2021, which did not happen. In the 2019/2020 season, more than 357,000 people disembarked from October 20, 2019 to March 15, 2020, not counting the departures. According to the association, in 2019, the cruises were responsible for an impact of R$ 2.08 billion on the Brazilian economy, in addition to the generation of around 32 thousand direct and indirect jobs.

The return of navigations to the city takes place at the same time that the Ômicron variant, detected for the first time in South Africa, spreads through countries, including Brazil.

TO CNN, the president of the Brazilian Association of Maritime Cruises, Marco Ferraz, said that it is impossible to have a complete guarantee that the new variant will not infect any traveller, but highlighted that the protocols of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) followed on board are very rigid and the possibility of infection is minimal in ships.

Among the various determinations made by Anvisa so that cruises can be taken are the mandatory vaccination passport and the maximum occupancy of 75% of the ship.

Concerned with the dissemination of new variants, by air and land, the Public Defender of the Union (DPU) and the Public Defender of the State of Rio de Janeiro (DPR/RJ) sent a recommendation to establish the mandatory requirement of vaccine proof for entry in the country of foreign tourists. The document was forwarded on Thursday (2) to the Ministers of State Head of the Civil House of the Presidency of the Republic, Justice and Public Security, Health and Infrastructure.

The Defender’s Office highlighted that the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) recommended more than once, through technical notes, the existence of a control policy through the collection of proof of vaccine against Covid-19.

The institutions also highlighted that the existing testing policy may be flawed, as the tests may have false negative results and also do not indicate contamination during the incubation period, which can be up to 14 days. In view of the new Ômicron variant, which is already in circulation in the country, there is concern about the resurgence of the pandemic, as informed in the document sent.

*With information from Mylena Guedes and Iuri Corsini