Closing on 16 November and reported on the 17th, the first South American edition of the Black Travel Summit (BTSummit) brought 300 influencers, tour operators and media to Rio de Janeiro—an event strategically backed by Embratur as part of its 60-year celebrations. The agency used the forum to position ‘Afroturismo’ as a pillar of Brazil’s international brand and to court niche travel buyers looking for culturally immersive, heritage-rich itineraries.
Sessions covered inclusive marketing, supplier diversity and the commercial potential of Afro-diaspora festivals such as Salvador’s Carnaval Negro. Embratur’s coordinator Tania Neres unveiled a new Afroturismo module in the Brazil Travel Specialist e-learning platform, giving overseas agents product blueprints and ESG guidelines for responsible community engagement.
![Embratur Puts Afro-Brazilian Heritage Centre Stage at Black Travel Summit]()
From a mobility perspective, the summit supports Brazil’s broader air-service push: market research presented by Embratur shows leisure spend from Black U.S. travellers alone could justify up to 120,000 incremental airline seats annually. The agency is already negotiating targeted cooperative marketing with Copa Airlines and United to bundle flight credits with heritage-tour packages.
Corporate relocation teams note an ancillary benefit: greater destination attractiveness can aid talent retention for multinationals posting staff to Brazil, particularly those with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) mandates. In practice, companies can tap Embratur’s new supplier directory to source minority-owned ground-handlers and DMCs that meet internal DEI procurement goals.
The BTSummit also served as a pilot for carbon-neutral event standards ahead of COP30. Organisers offset 100 t of CO₂ through Amazon re-forestation credits—an approach Embratur plans to replicate in future MICE bids, positioning Brazil as a sustainable yet culturally engaging host market.
Sessions covered inclusive marketing, supplier diversity and the commercial potential of Afro-diaspora festivals such as Salvador’s Carnaval Negro. Embratur’s coordinator Tania Neres unveiled a new Afroturismo module in the Brazil Travel Specialist e-learning platform, giving overseas agents product blueprints and ESG guidelines for responsible community engagement.
From a mobility perspective, the summit supports Brazil’s broader air-service push: market research presented by Embratur shows leisure spend from Black U.S. travellers alone could justify up to 120,000 incremental airline seats annually. The agency is already negotiating targeted cooperative marketing with Copa Airlines and United to bundle flight credits with heritage-tour packages.
Corporate relocation teams note an ancillary benefit: greater destination attractiveness can aid talent retention for multinationals posting staff to Brazil, particularly those with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) mandates. In practice, companies can tap Embratur’s new supplier directory to source minority-owned ground-handlers and DMCs that meet internal DEI procurement goals.
The BTSummit also served as a pilot for carbon-neutral event standards ahead of COP30. Organisers offset 100 t of CO₂ through Amazon re-forestation credits—an approach Embratur plans to replicate in future MICE bids, positioning Brazil as a sustainable yet culturally engaging host market.
