Starting right now, tourists who come to Rio de Janeiro will receive a booklet with orientations about how to act in the city to avoid become easy marks for thieves and fleecers. The booklet was released December 28 by the Brazilian Hotel Industry Association (Abih).
The booklet suggests, for example, that tourists not carry valuable objects, such as watches and jewelry, on their persons; that they not ride in taxi cabs that aren’t authorized by the hotels; that they always use credit cards to pay large expenses and not show their wallets with large sums of cash; and that they stay away from places outside the usual tourist routes.
The secretary of public safety, Marcelo Itagiba, considered the Abih’s initiative a positive one. In his view, the publication makes tourists more careful, contributing to the work of the police.
In this initial edition, 50 thousand copies were printed in Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, and German, for distribution in hotels and airports.
Brazil is expected to close out the year with a tourism sector surplus of close to US$ 400 million, compared to US$ 217 million last year. Between January and October, the surplus reached US$ 340 million.
“We are hoping for a spike at the end of year . The number of tourists coming into the country continues to rise from month to month. As for domestic tourism, it is up 17% for the year.
“And most important of all, people in the tourism sector have become aware of the fact that you increase income by investing more and creating more jobs,” declared minister of Tourism, Walfrido dos Mares Guia.
Agência Brasil
