Long before earning more than R$2 billion per year, Copastur was just a small operation in the center of São Paulo. At the age of 17, Edmar Augusto Bull saw a business opportunity when he noticed that customers were not just looking for tickets, but the fulfillment of a wish.
It was then “selling the dream of traveling”, that in 1982, he started one of the largest tourism companies in Brazil.
Since 2023, at the head of the company founded by his father, Edmar Mendoza Bull, CEO of Copastur, argues that the financial sustainability and decision-making speed of a family company continue to be important competitive advantages in an increasingly competitive market.
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“We still haven’t seen anything that makes sense for us to change our position and the business is sustainable, it produces results”, said Edmar Bull, during an interview for the program From Zero to Topabout Copastur’s decision to grow without external investors.
More than five decades later, the company specializing in corporate travel, which never received external funding, has transformed into a 360 agency, a true biosphere that connects corporate and leisure travel, complex logistics and high-end experiences.
From travel agency to ecosystem
Copastur’s trajectory began in the corporate market, but the company expanded its operations as it identified new customer demands.
Today, in addition to the main corporate travel operation, the group brings together other brands such as Aquarela, focused on corporate events and incentive travel, Goya Travel, specialized in luxury tourism, and Pass For All, focused on documentation and visas.
According to Bull, the objective is to occupy more and more space in the journey of business customers.
“When we look at these brands that we created, they are always brands that are generating some added value for our client at that moment and that we are covering other markets”, stated the CEO. “We can be a 360 partner in terms of service for our B2B client,” he said.
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The strategy involves offering everything from executive trips for presidents of large companies to operational trips, corporate events and relationship programs.
R$2 billion without investors
Even in the face of accelerated growth, the company claims to see no need to seek external capital. For Bull, the family structure guarantees agility in decisions and allows a long-term vision that is less dependent on the short-term pressures normally associated with the financial market.
“The difference and the competitive gain is speed. You have greater decision-making power and speed than when you have several shareholders”, he said.
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The plan now is to maintain the pace of expansion. According to the CEO, the company is working with a growth target of 12% per year in the coming years.
Furthermore, the company is betting on strengthening corporate tourism in Brazil, especially with the economic expansion of regions such as the North and Northeast.
To find out more details about Copastur, see the full episode on . The program is available in its podcast version on the main streaming platforms such as , , , and
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About From Zero to Top
The Do Zero ao Topo podcast is a production of InfoMoney and brings, every week, the stories of prominent women and men in the Brazilian market to tell their story, sharing the biggest challenges faced along the way and the main strategies used in building the business.
