The mayor-elect of Rio de Janeiro has come up with a new promotional plan for the tourism industry that would levy tax on tourists and use the proceeds to reimburse visitors who are mugged.
In an effort to “shatter” Rio de Janeiro’s “negative image,” the city’s mayor-elect Marcelo Crivella declared his call for action this week and called this as his “bold proposal”.
He said that Rio de Janeiro couldn’t continue treating its tourists as if they were an afterthought. Political leaders in Rio are scrambling to deal with a rash of problems after less than four months the city hosted the 2016 Olympics. While Rio has experienced a historic amount of street crime this year, with an eye-popping 8,000 robberies reported in June 2016 alone — more than twice the amount in June 2015. Some leaders, however, feel that the tax would ultimately turn off tourists to the popular Brazilian destination.
Global tourism industry scholar Mario Beni commented negatively on the tax plan and said that creating such rules makes no sense unless the aim is to discourage tourism in Rio de Janeiro.
Rio still draws pleasure seekers from around the world to its beaches, forested parks and Carnival celebrations, even though some visits here end in tragedy.
The latest travel advice for Brazil from the U.K.’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) warns that “levels of crime and violence are high, particularly in major cities.” The U.S. State Department acknowledges Rio’s high crime rates but has stopped short of issuing a travel warning or alert.
