Potential tourists’ image of a tourist destination : The case of Brazil

This research deals with the image, which potential tourists may have about a tourist destination.Using a quantitative approach and a marketing and communication perspective, we tried to investigate how Brazil is seen by potential tourists who happened to be European students studying at the Halmstad University, Sweden. The research highlighted six categories, upon which the tourists’ image of Brazil is based, namely hospitality of the population, sexuality, tourism infrastructure, environment, economy, protection and safety. The results show that the image held by the studied target group about Brazil as a tourist destination, is an exotic country with a friendly population with an exuberant nature; the main identity icons are football and carnival events. Entertainment and fun are some other positive attributes mentioned by the respondents. However, violence and fragile security are the main concerns for the respondents