President Barack Obama and Gov. Rick Scott are poles apart politically, but their visits to Brazil last year put them on the same page when it comes to the value of Brazilian tourists here.
Obama is scheduled to be in Orlando on Thursday, reportedly to announce new initiatives to streamline the issuance of U.S. tourist visas for Brazilians. The program could encompass China as well, sources said.
Scott has called for changes in the visa program.
"The visa issue is very important to Governor Scott. During his visit to Brazil in October, he met with U.S. and Brazilian officials to discuss what it would take to improve the visa program," said Lane Wright, press secretary for the Republican governor.
"Making it easier for Brazilians to get to the United States is expected to dramatically increase tourism to our state and will serve as a job-creating economic boost," Wright said.
The White House asked Chris Thompson, president and CEO of Visit Florida, to attend the president's speech at the Disney World complex Thursday afternoon.
Kathy Torian, spokeswoman for the state tourism agency, confirmed that Thompson will be on hand, but said he did not know exactly what would be rolled out.
"He's going in kind of blind," said Torian, who indicated that Thompson would be meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson in the afternoon.
Any efforts toward visa reform that will lessen the inconveniences international travelers experience when visiting the United States would be supported by Floridas tourism industry," Thompson said in a statement.
"Making it easier for travelers from Brazil, China and other countries to visit the Sunshine State equates to increased tourism spending and more jobs for Floridians.
Robert Skrob, executive director of the Florida Association of Destination Marketing Organizations, said changes are badly needed for Brazil, which sends more tourists to the Sunshine State than any other country.
"It takes 69 days to get a [tourist visa] appointment in Sao Paulo. Applicants have to upload photos and complete a lengthy application. You can't bring cell phones to the interview. The bureaucracy is amazing," Skrob said.
Other wait times range from 14 days in Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro to 50 days in Recife, according to a U.S. government website. By contrast, appointments can be obtained in two days in the Chinese capital of Beijing.
Brazil is an increasingly big player in the South Florida economy.
Last year, Brazilians overtook Canadians as the foreign group spending the most tourist dollars in Miami, according to the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. Brazilians spent an estimated $1.14 billion in the Miami-Dade area on hotels, restaurants, entertainment and shopping, compared with $840.9 million by Canadians.
That equates to $2,053 per Brazilian visitor, compared with $1,432 per Canadian, the bureau calculated.
From January through September, Visit Florida reported that 1,068,000 Brazilian tourists spent time in Florida -- up 41 percent from the same period in 2010. Tourists from China and Hong Kong totaled 119,000 during the period, up 38 percent.
Folko Weltzien, a South Florida condo expert, said surging real-estate prices in Brazil and the currency's 45 percent gain against the U.S. dollar since 2008 are bringing Brazilians to South Florida in search of bargain vacation homes and property investments.
That's helped bolster Miami's condo market, with total sales increasing 79 percent in the first five months of 2011 from a year earlier, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.
Every 85 visitors to our state creates a job for a Floridian," Skrob said. "There is nothing that will create a larger influx of visitors to our state than expediting our visa process for our friends in Brazil.
"Governor Rick Scott has been a huge advocate of this initiative, including traveling to Brazil himself on a recent sales mission. We support the presidents efforts to make it easier for more customers to reach Florida businesses, Skrob added.
Obama's political opponents took a more jaundiced view of his visit to this crucial swing state.
Pointing out that plans to expedite tourist visas are neither new nor original, skeptics noted that a recent congressional appropriations bill authorized the secretary of state to develop a pilot program to use videoconferencing to conduct remote visa interviews for leisure and business visitors.
The president is in a free fall in Florida and is doing all he can to save his job. It seems as though voters will just get another campaign speech from a president who is more concerned about his own job than the millions of unemployed, said Ryan Tronovitch, spokesman for the Republican National Committee.
A Jan. 8 Quinnipiac Poll showed Obama with a "solidly negative" rating with Florida voters. Fifty-four percent say he does not deserve a second term.
Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
