About Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro is considered one of the world’s dream cities – it is located in a beautiful natural environment which brings dramatically together mountains and the sea in a luxuriant tropical setting, all this highlighted by the friendliness of its people. The city is renowned for its white sandy beaches, rain forests and breathtaking views from the mountain tops which surround it, two bays, and many lagoons, also being one of the main cultural capitals of Brazil – museums, cultural centers, historical buildings, musical halls and theaters; great choice of restaurants, shopping malls and tourist sites. If you have never been to Rio, this is your best opportunity. If you already know Rio, the city is for sure prettier than ever before.

Area: 1,171 Km²;

Population: 5.8 million people;

Climate: mostly sunny, temperature ranging from 27ºC-80ºF:

Temperature and rainy days:

Cosmopolitan city: beautiful nature with the biggest urban forest in the world, two bays, lagoons and 90 km of beaches and mountains; one of the main cultural capitals of Brazil – museums, cultural centers, historical buildings, musical halls and theaters; great choice of restaurants, shopping malls, tourist sights;

Infrastructure: about 24,000 hotel rooms, facilities and services for meetings and events (professional organizers, travel agencies, audiovisual equipment, airlines, ground transportation, convention centers, venues for social events, etc.); subway transportation system linking Copacabana, downtown and the north zone; over 900 restaurants of every specialty; 59 consular and commercial representations;

Events and tourism infrastructure: more than 50 experienced and efficient professional congress organizers and trade show companies; excellent simultaneous translation and first class equipment companies, freight forwarders and custom brokers; more than 500 travel agencies; first class telecommunication services;

Awards: the British edition of the Travel Weekly magazine granted Rio de Janeiro the award of the best South America’s tourist destination and to Riocentro the best South America’s convention center in 2003 and 2004; Rio was chosen the world capital of friendliness in 2001 through a research conducted by the University of Michigan and the University of California; on July 2003, 24,000 readers of the British newspapers The Guardian andObserver chose, for their annual travel edition, Rio de Janeiro as their 6^thfavorite tourist destination;

Economy: the main economic sectors in Rio de Janeiro are food and beverage, audiovisual (radio, movies and TV), civil works (materials, furniture, decoration objects), information technology and tourism; Rio de Janeiro keeps on being the gate for international tourism – for each ten foreigners, four come to Rio; tourism represents 4% of the state gross regional product;

Security: joint committee of tourist security composed of (i) Military Police Force, (ii) Civil Police Force, (iii) Municipal Guard, (iv) Fire Department, (v) Municipal Tourist Office, (vi) State Tourist Office, (vii) Rio Convention & Visitors Bureau, (viii) Brazilian Association of Travel Agents, (ix) Brazilian Association of Professional Congress Organizers, among others; private security can be summoned for congresses, events and groups in the city;

Favorite destination for conferences: according to the International Congress and Convention Association – ICCA, Rio de Janeiro was ranked 1^stas the destination to international meetings in the Americas in the last decade (see Appendix E for a listing of major past and future events);

Frequency of weekly arrivals and departures in Rio de Janeiro (international flights):

Access:

Rio is linked to airports in more than 80 countries; 23 international and national airlines link Rio de Janeiro to the main capitals of the world: Aerolineas Argentinas, Delta Airlines, Pro Sky, Air Europa, Gol, TAAG, Air France, Iberia, TAM, American Airlines, KLM, TAP, Avianca, Lan Chile, United Airlines, BRA, Webjet, British Airways, Ocean Air, Continental Airlines, Pluna, Copa Airlines and Varig;

Visa to Brazil is not required for citizens of the following countries:

Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxemburg, Macao, Malta, San Marino, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, Uruguay and Vatican;

Brazil has diplomatic representation in several countries in all continents around the world;

Airports: (i) Rio de Janeiro International Airport (Galeão) Antonio Carlos Jobim – located at Ilha do Governador; 20 minutes from main hotels in the south zone by the express way Linha Vermelha (Red Line); 38 minutes from Riocentro (the largest Convention Center in Latin America); capacity of 15 million passengers per year; 520 flights per day; 12 gates (seven international and five domestic); two terminals; (ii) Santos Dumont Airport(domestic) – located downtown; 10 minutes to the south zone and main hotels; capacity of 5 million passengers per year, 273 flights per day, six gates; served by six national airlines.