Brasília, January 19, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The Brazilian government will mount a campaign for European tourists beginning this week. The first of six Brazilian Tourism Offices to be installed in European cities will be inaugurated in Portugal on Wednesday (21). The Lisbon office will be in charge of coordinating all the rest, which will function in Paris, Madrid, Rome, Berlin, and London. These offices will serve as units for the promotion, marketing, and commercial support of products, services, and locations related to tourism in Brazil.

850 euros are expected to be spent in 2004 to make it possible for the Brazilian Tourism Offices to function. The federal government will also create similar offices in the US cities of New York, Los Angeles, and Washington. This is one of the government's measures to achieve the goal set by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva em 2003, to expand the annual influx of tourists in Brazil to 9 million, bringing around US$ 8 billion in foreign currency.

The Portuguese office was chosen to coordinate the efforts in Europe in view of the historical ties between the two countries, according to the press office at the Ministry of Tourism.

The number of Portuguese tourists who visit Brazil grows every year. In 2002, 168 thousand Portuguese visited the country, 60% more than in 1998. (DAS)