European Travel Commission names new chairmanship in Brazil – ETC Corporate

Caroline Putnoki, Director Brazil-South America at Atout France takes on the leadership role to foster Brazilian travel to Europe

The European Travel Commission (ETC) announces the appointment of Caroline Putnoki, Director for Brazil-South America at Atout France, and Miguel Nieto-Sandoval, Director of Tourspain in Brazil, as the Chair and Vice-Chair respectively of ETC’s Brazil Chapter.

Caroline has extensive experience in destination marketing. Since 2017, she has been director of Atout France for South America, the first woman to occupy that position. In her role, she has developed audacious projects such as the influence marketing programme “França on the road” and the “France Excellence” event concept dedicated to luxury “made in France”. Prior to her role in Sao Paulo, Caroline was Director for Canada at Atout France and worked in Brazil in various executive roles in marketing and communication, including river cruises on the Amazon. She takes over the position from Petr Lutter, Director Latin America at CzechTourism, who coordinated the association’s operations in the market for the past four years.

Miguel has been working at the helm of Tourspain in Sao Paulo since September 2023, driving new and repeat visitors to Spain from Brazil. Previously, he held management positions at the offices of Tourspain in Abu Dabi, Mumbai, Mexico City and Singapore, as well as in Madrid Head Office.

Together, Caroline and Miguel will consolidate the activities of ETC in Brazil, whose role is to leverage European destinations’ promotional activities by setting up effective platforms for cooperative marketing, access to market intelligence, exchange of best practices, cooperation and relationships between the Brazilian and the European travel and tourism industry. ETC’s initiatives in Brazil include travel trade seminars and workshops, consumer promotional campaigns, and the annual Communication Award, which will celebrate its 35 edition in 2025.

Putnoki said: “I am delighted to be appointed as Chair of the European Travel Commission and excited about the opportunity to lead the launch in Brazil of ETC’s new communication campaign ‘Unlock an Unexpected Upgrade” which encourages responsible travel behaviours. It is a great honour to work with the ETC Brussels team and member countries here in Brazil, encouraging the local trade and travellers to experience what Europe has to offer.

Nieto-Sandoval said: “The European Travel Commission was created with the mission of helping outbound operators and travellers to gain a deeper understanding of Europe as a tourist destination. I am excited to work to fulfill this mission with the level of excellence that Brazil deserves”.

Brazil ranks sixth among all out-of-region outbound travel markets to European destinations. Over 3.8 million travellers from Brazil arrived in Europe in 2023, accounting for a market share of 39.7% of all Brazilian outbound travel. Tourist arrivals from Brazil to Europe are expected to grow by 8.7% per year average through to 2028 awed by increased air connectivity and strong historical and cultural ties.