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Sudipta Dev – Mumbai
Brazil will be giving a special type of tourist visa, that is free of charge, issued on the basis of the presentation of ticket certificates issued by FIFA, as of the month of April. “Free visa will be given to any Indian citizen who can give proof of having purchased the FIFA World Cup tickets from the three authorised sales agents for FIFA in India, that is Cutting Edge, Cox & Kings and Match Hospitality,” said Maria Teresa Mesquita Pessôa, consul general of Brazil in Mumbai.
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| Maria Teresa Mesquita Pessôa |
Brazil expects 600,000 foreign tourists from around the world for the FIFA World Cup. One million Brazilians will also be travelling around the country during the event. The consul general informed that till date 1.5 million tickets have been allocated, 57 per cent to Brazilians, the rest to international fans. In total, through all sales channels, 2.3 million tickets have been assigned. The top countries for ticket allocations include USA, Columbia, Germany, Argentina, UK and Australia. India is not among the top ten nations. “Even though it is not fair to compare the number of Indian visitors travelling to Brazil for the World Cup in comparison to other countries owing to the fact that India is not participating in the World Cup, there has been a significant amount of interest from the Indian football fans and those numbers are increasing rapidly since 2009-10. This is supported by the fact that the Indian market has three official FIFA agents responsible for the sale of the World Cup packages in comparison to one in most other countries,” she stated, pointing out that the number of visas that the Consulate has been processing on a monthly basis increased gradually during the year 2013 owing to the pre- World Cup preparations taking place on every front, be it the travel agents, officials or other relevant entities. “We will now see a very sharp increase as the World Cup approaches,” mentioned Pessôa.
Brazil has been promoting the FIFA World Cup in India at all its events. The most notable being he illumination of the Gateway of India on March 4, 2014, which marked the countdown of 100 days to the World Cup. “A promotion which could be realised thanks to the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation and Philips,” said the consul general.
