We started out as a fairly informal operation (I was still working a proper day job at the beginning), but pretty soon it became clear that we would need to do everything officially. After a lot of hassle and paperwork Eat Rio became a proper tax-paying Brazilian company, registered with the tourism board and doing things by the book.
Eat Rio and TripAdvisor
As the months turned into years, Eat Rio’s reputation spread and we found ourselves busier and busier – to date we have received a total of 5,465 guests and run almost 800 tours! A huge contributor to our success has been the travel review site TripAdvisor. Now I know that many people have their doubts about TripAdvisor but like it or not, it’s a massive player in the travel and tourism industry and although trends (and the site) have changed over the years, it’s still many people’s go-to resource when considering booking a hotel, restaurant or travel activity.
The reviews that we’ve received (548 at the time of writing) have been overwhelmingly positive and every year since 2015 we’ve been awarded TripAdvisor’s ‘Certificate of Excellence’, a sign of consistently positive reviews throughout the year. This year we received our fifth consecutive CofE which means we’ve been inducted into the TripAdvisor ‘Hall of Fame’:
Say what you will about TripAdvisor, it’s lovely to have all our hard work recognised so I hope you’ll forgive a little self-satisfied trumpet tooting.
Google Business Listings
Of course TripAdvisor isn’t the only review site in town, so if you’ll allow me to indulge in one last piece of review-bragging, I’d like to present our latest review from Google listings:
Our tour with Eat Rio and Vinicius was a total highlight of our time in Rio. We wove through a lively market, tasted fruit we had never seen, learned about so many rituals, types of Brazilian food and drink, tasted REAL acai (much different than the frozen packs in the U.S.), delicious local seafood and beef dishes, and so much more. We even brought our 7-month-old daughter with us and the group was so helpful and happy to have her along. I think these tours naturally bring together like-minded people, and we so enjoyed meeting and spending the day with our entire group. Thank you, Tom, Vinicius, and Eat Rio! – Annie F
This came in just a couple of days after Eat Rio’s 8th birthday and I can’t think of a nicer present (well, maybe some chocolate… and some kind of booze… but still, this was really nice). A big thanks to Annie (the author of the above review) and all our past guests and guides who’ve made all this possible.
We’re not resting on our laurels. In fact we have an exciting new development in the pipeline so watch this space for more details which should be coming in the next month or two. In the meantime, cheers/saúde!
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