Above: Rio de Janeiro (Photo: Savoia Imoveis)

Last June marked the inaugural flight between Sao Paulo, Brazil and Bridgetown, Barbados — the beginning of strengthening cultural and economic relations between the two countries.

That flight, which used to be a multiple-stop, day-long expedition, has become a direct, six-hour trip that arrives in Bridgetown once a week.

The two countries working to improve travel between the two countries, and encouraging Barbadians to make the trip to Sao Paulo. A number of cultural missions have come to Barbados from Brazil in recent months, including the samba group Sociedade Rosas de Ouro.

“Over the past year, there has been growing interest from Barbadians to learn more about tourism, shopping and business opportunities in both Brazil and Argentina,” said William Stokes, vice president for the Caribbean and Latin America with the Barbados Tourism Authority. “One of the great strengths of Brazil is the ease of air travel, which allows Barbadians the opportunity to visit not only Sao Paulo, but to comfortably visit another city in the country before returning to Barbados.”

Flying the route between the two countries is Brazilian carrier GOL, whose major hub is at Sao Paulo’s international airport.

“Barbadians will be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to navigate around many of the large cities of Brazil,” Stokes said.

The Caribbean and Latin American countries have been working together on the tourism front, as a number of experts, including Dr Keith Nurse and Jamaican Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett, have recently told Caribbean Journal.

–Barbados Information Service