Pere Marti is director of sales for Aniyami DMC in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Aniyami DMC is a boutique DMC that has specialized in creating and operating great travel experiences in Brazil for more than 14 years. Aniyami has offices in Rio de Janeiro, Icuacu Falls, Bahia and the Northeast, as well as exclusive partners in Sao Paulo, Amazon, Maranhao and Pantanal. The company was recently certified as a B Corporation for its focus on sustainable tourism. Motivate recently spoke with Marti about opportunities in Brazil and the incentive travel market.
On the Brazil market: With the growing trend of incentive planners looking for more creative, authentic and responsible incentive experiences, we were approached by some top incentive planners to develop incentive programs in Brazil. So around five or six years ago we decided to develop a unique incentive product, together with exclusive planner services for the incentive market.
On building industry relationships: Our three most important goals for becoming a SITE member are to find inspiration, share learning and grow networking. Brazil is a great destination for incentive travel, and we want to share this with other members and build profitable and long-term relationships within the SITE community.
On differentiating Aniyami in the region: Brazil is a large country, and local knowledge is crucial to be able to develop creative and price-competitive programs and operate them with excellence. We have quality ground relationships that guarantee our clients a successful incentive trip in Brazil. Additionally, we have an amazing international team that has premium knowledge of Brazil, understand our clients’ market needs and serve them in their origin markets. Our team includes representatives in North America, the Mediterranean, Mexico, Japan, Germany, Eastern Europe, France and South America. This team focus allows us to provide the best incentive experiences and be excellent at what we do.
On the importance of sustainability: Our CEO and Founder, Adria Lacorte, was a student of sustainable tourism back in the UK twenty years ago. Aniyami was born with a mission aligned with sustainable tourism criteria. From the beginning, the company has been concerned with measuring our social and economic impact. Being certified as a B Corporation is another step towards achieving our mission. This will benefit our clients, as they will be able to demonstrate their impact on Brazilian destinations. Our great relationships with destination guides, accommodations, local NGOs, tourism public sector representatives and transportation are key to providing more creative incentive experiences that are, non-conventional and sustainable and operated with excellence.
On opportunities and challenges in Brazil: With the experience and infrastructure improvements gained from hosting the Olympics and other large sporting events, the Brazilian incentive market is now more prepared and priced competitively to grow double digits, particularly from international markets. The current political and economic crises in Brazil will continue to affect local demand for the next couple of years. In the last three to four months, we are seeing a lot of interest from international clients—much more than in the past. The magic of Brazil is unique. At the end of the day we know that when a company offers an incentive program to Brazil, the first thing they get back is a smile. With Aniyami’s unique and quality incentive experiences, planners will certainly have happy participants, successful business, and more importantly, a long-term profitable relationship with Brazil.
