Brazil to promote tourism with Oly torch

The Olympic torch relay, which begins in Brasilia and will pass through more than 500 cities before the August 5 opening ceremony, is seen as an opportunity to promote Brazil’s great tourist attractions.

The torch will be carried through the country’s tourist regions as a way to win them international attention.

On its 20,000km relay by road and another 16,000km by air, the Olympic flame will be passed along by 12,000 runners and, though it will go through 500 cities, it will only spend the night in 82 of them.

Those 82 were chosen either because they are state capitals, or have great economic importance, of because they are destinations the Brazilian government wants to promote, state tourism agency Embratur said.

After its tour of Brasilia, the Olympic torch will be run to some nearby ecological destinations like Pirenopolis with its magnificent waterfalls, and Caldas Novas, the largest hydrothermal spa resort in the world.

It will continue to Campo Grande and Cuiaba, gateways to the vast Pantanal wetlands with its great variety of flora and fauna, then to the historic cities of Ouro Preto and Tiradentes, then to the Guarapari spa resort, then northeast again to an area of eternal tropical weather, famous beaches, and another touch of history in old Salvador.

The flame will then be flown to Fernando de Noronha, a mid-Atlantic island paradise, followed by an incredible trip to the Amazon, and from there by air to the southernmost part of Brazil with its wine country and ruins of old colonial Jesuit missions in Sao Miguel das Missoes.

On the triple border between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, the Olympic flame will spend two nights by the breathtaking Iguacu Falls.

From the south it will be taken back north through the seaside resort of Florianopolis, through Barretos famed for its rodeos, and Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, to Rio de Janeiro, for the opening ceremony.

Brazil’s Indian athlete Kamukaika Lappa of the Yawalapiti ethnic group carries the Olympic torch during the torch relay in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. The three-month torch relay across Brazil will end at the opening ceremony on Aug. 5 at Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

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