ITTN’s Shane Cullen is travelling to the ABAV Expo in Brazil with TAP Air Portugal. His journey commenced with a flight from Dublin to Lisbon then an onward flight to Rio de Janeiro.
Ahead of the conference, the group is experiencing what Brazil has to offer with a short stay on the ocean peninsula called Armação dos Búzios. This is an upmarket area with stunning beaches, authentic, luxurious accommodation and fantastic food.
During the week-long trip in Brazil, Shane and fellow journalists from Ireland, Portugal, France, Italy and Austria are guided by the very knowledgeable André Ferreira de Serpa Soares (TAP Air Portugal).
Twin Centre Inspiration – Portugal to Brazil with TAP Air Portugal
Find out about the hugely popular programme that allows a stopover of up to 10 days in Portugal before connecting onwards. Final destinations such as South America, especially Brazil, Africa, the United States, Canada, Mexico or other parts of Portugal make for a fantastic twin-centre holiday. Equally, discover why TAP Air Portugal is the airline to get to Brazil for Europeans, not just the Portuguese!
Stopover Programme in Portugal
André: “The program was a success before Covid and then with Covid, we stopped the partnerships. Now, we are rebuilding the program. Now we are offering an overnight stop. It can be up to 10 nights in Lisbon or Porto as well. You can connect to the United States, to Africa, to Madeira, the Azores in Portugal, to wherever…”
“…you can have a night stop over for up to 10 nights with no extra costs in your [airline] ticket. And besides that, we have partnerships with fine hotels and fine restaurants in these cities, in Lisbon and Porto, and you can go there and you will find discounts. [This includes] some experiences like a trip or museum visit…”
“So you need to check out our website to see what are the partners and then just take part, take advantage of it and enjoy it.”
Shane: “You mentioned there that you can avail of it if you are going over to the likes of Madeira – if you are going to Dublin – Lisbon; Lisbon – Madeira?”
André: “Yes, So you can have this stop offer in Lisbon and then go to Madeira afterwards. After staying two or three nights in Lisbon before going to Madeira (or up to 10). This is the way you can discover and fly to two destinations for the price of one. Right? That’s the point.”
“It’s not only for destinations in Portugal but also to Brazil for instance or to the United States, or to Africa. So it’s a way for you to go to the destinations while paying for only one ticket price.”
TAP & the South American & African Markets
Shane: “So is TAP Air Portugal’s main focus on South America and Africa?”
André: “Yes, actually. Our historical focus is Brazil and we are the leading European airline flying to Brazil. We fly more than any other airline between Europe and Brazil. Our business is not just to fly Portuguese to Brazil and Brazilians to Portugal – it is to fly Europeans to Brazil and Brazilians to all over Europe. We fly 85 flights per week to Brazil to 11 different cities. So that’s a lot. There’s no other airline that offers so much. So we give a range of full options to everybody wanting to travel between these two regions.”
“Also, we have a very strong position in Africa, for Portuguese-speaking countries, of course (for historical reasons) but not only that, we have developed a very good network in Morocco, for instance, and also in West African Countries. So, if you want to travel to Africa, maybe TAP Air is the offer for you.”
Flights to the United States, Canada and Mexico
“And then to the United States, the market is so huge. There are so many airlines doing these flights between Europe and the United States but we can find a good position for [TAP Air Portugal] there.”
“We already fly to 9 cities in North America – to the United States and Canada as well as to Mexico. We start to be competitive and what we intend for people, for Irish people to be aware that if they want to fly to any of these destinations they should look at TAP and see if TAP gives them the best offer and competitive rate.”
Mixing Business & Leisure – City or Golf Break
Shane: “I love the idea of Lisbon. It is such a popular spot on the Irish market for a city break or golf break and it’s a destination that you can do as a twin-centre holiday.”
André: “And also Porto. Also, if you want to go to Brazil or to North America, you can go to Portugal and go and play golf for a week and then you go to your destination.”
“You can make a mix of leisure and business. Imagine that you are going to the United States for business, add on a few nights break at the start or the end and can play golf because TAP will charge you the same thing [the same price for the airline ticket].”
“That’s the advantage of it. And also, there are discounts on hotels and restaurants. So it’s really it’s a good project. Prior to Covid, it won the accolade as the best stopover program in the world [with Condé Nast]. And we want to earn that recognition again so we are building a very strong programme and offering this to our customers all over.”
Stay tuned to ITTN with Shane Cullen reporting from Brazil all this week as part of his journey to Rio de Janeiro for the ABAV Expo in Brazil, in conjunction with TAP Air Portugal.
