A former state tourism official predicts that Brazil will become Georgia’s second-largest tourist market this year, and is so impressed by the opportunities that he left his post to join a new private-sector venture.

Joseph Walker, former director of business development for tourism at the Georgia Department of Economic Development, joined the consultancy International Travel Market Solutions, or ITMS. Feb 15.

Explaining his decision at a Feb. 1 event promoting Brazilian tourism at the World Trade Center Atlanta, Mr. Walker said the potential for growth in this sector is too good to pass up.

An open skies agreement between the U.S. and Brazil that will begin removing restrictions on the number of flights between the two countries in 2012 is expected to expand tourism significantly, he said.

Also President Obama’s announcement at the Disney World theme park in Orlando, Fla., in January to streamline red tape so Brazilian tourists would have less difficulties visiting the U.S. will increase the numbers coming to Georgia, he added.

“The market’s really going to blow open in the end of 2013, the beginning of 2014,” Mr. Walker said.

Veteran travel professional Franci Edgerly, a founder of ITMS who has promoted the state through her Brunswick-based travel consultancy ITI Marketing, was as enthusiastic about the prospects as Mr. Walker.

To make her case, she cited tourism figures showing Brazil already having surpassed Germany even though the state has had an aggressive promotion campaign in Germany for 15 years.

Traditionally the United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea are at the top of the list for sending tourists to Georgia. But as Brazil’s middle class expands rapidly and it remains South America’s most expensive country, Brazilians are coming here to visit and to shop.

Nevertheless, the state and the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, according to both Mr. Walker and Ms. Edgerly, are going to have to build awareness of the opportunities in Brazil..

Argentina, which in the past has had a stronger economy than Brazil’s, is better known. “Acknowledge that Portuguese is the national language of Brazil (not Spanish) and Buenos Aires is not the capital of Brazil,” he joked. “It’s a nice place, but it’s in Argentina.”

In the last decade, Brazil has been one of the fastest growing emerging markets. It is currently the largest economy in Latin America, and the seventh largest in the world.

Mr. Walker plans to split his time between Atlanta and Sao Paulo and specialize in connecting tour operators, businesses and government agencies to increase trade between the two regions.

“There are opportunities all over the world but I think that Brazil, for us here in Georgia, is where we’re going to make our money,” Mr. Walker said. “We’re going to create a Brazilian tourism juggernaut here.”

Citing figures on foreign Visa credit and debit card use in Georgia, Mr. Walker said at least 59,000 Brazilians visited the state in 2010 making it the fourth-largest source of international tourists by that metric.

Actual visitor numbers could have been significantly higher, as many travelers use cash or another card, but the Visa statistics reveal a number of trends about the state’s tourism industry.

Tourists from Brazil spent the third-largest amount of money in Georgia, following just the U.K. and South Korea. Brazilians spent about $27.6 million in the state in 2010.

Figures for last year are not yet available, but Mr. Walker predicted Brazil will jump to Georgia’s second-largest tourist market in 2012.

The state has stepped up promotional efforts in Brazil over the past several years, and has been latching on to the success of Florida in attracting Brazilians.

“There are more tourists that go to Orlando by itself than all of the Deep South states combined,” Mr. Walker said. “So we started trying to sell Georgia as an extension to Florida, and that has been what has really been driving Brazilians into Georgia.”

The Visa statistics showed that the vast majority of Brazilian tourists, about 56,000 out of 59,000, visited Atlanta during their trip. The northeast Georgia mountain region was also popular, drawing more than 9,000 people.

The figures showed the state can do more to promote Savannah. Only 3 percent of Brazilian tourists, less than 1,800 people, visited the historic city or the surrounding coastal region.

He added that Georgia officials and businesspeople should build awareness of Brazilian culture to provide a more welcoming tourist destination.

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