September has a strange grip on me. After more than 40 years on this earth, I equate it with “Back to School”. I still hoard new pens, and sometimes splurge on late model backpack.
It also harkens a change in the weather here in Seattle. We swap out quick dry shorts and Chackos for dungarees and our lightest weight fleece. Half a world away in South America, it’s another story. Spring starts to hit, ties get loosened, and caipirinhas are poured under sunny verandas by the beach. This month, I had the pleasure of spending a week in Brazil. Massive, energetic, frenetic, cheerful, soulful, industrious Brazil. Amazing economic growth and just enough infrastructure to keep everything running at about 105%.
Tourism in Brazil, like everything else is taking off like a rocket ship. According to the World Tourism Organization, inbound arrivals are increasing at a rate of 18.8%. And average daily rates (ADR) are skyrocketing in LATAM thanks principally to Rio and Sao Paulo.
Boutique hotels are sprouting up to handle the near term demand brought on by the 2014 World Cup (note, most locals I spoke with did NOT believe that the hosts would win!) and the 2016 Olympics. There will be a far longer and more significant boom as more and more middle class globizens make their way to Brazil.
As I toured around, from the Teutonic/Italian inspired state of Rio Grande de Sul(practically the “Texas of Brazil” on account of its ornery itch for independence) in the South up to the wondrous chaos that is Sao Paulo, I was struck by the similarities with India. In fact, I kept saying to myself “Brazindia, Brazindia!”
Both countries have a thing for coffee (at least South India does!). In Brazil, espresso machines are everywhere. I asked my friend Fernando when he takes an espresso. “Once after breakfast, once after getting to the office, once after lunch. Sometimes after dinner,” he explained. Then, wait for it . . . “or really whenever we want to get together with friends.” Like India, there is a deep passion for human connection in Brazil, and that manifests itself in the Hospitality industry there.
Another point of similarity, getting around both countries is easy. Discount domestic carries like Gol run flights from Sao Paulo and Rio to the gorgeous beaches of North Brazil. The New York Times Frugal Traveller on Brazil is a wonderful resource peppered with the in’s and out’s of eating and staying your way through the “B” in BRIC countries.
