Foreign Tourists Fall by Half a Million in Brazil

Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo, Brazil The collapse of Brazil's flag carrier Varig last year caused a significant fall in the number of foreign tourists visiting Brazil in 2006 revealed a top official from the Ministry of Tourism in Rio do Janeiro.

Márcio Favilla said that in 2006 a total of 6.3 million tourists arrived in Brazil, half a million less than in 2005, and therefore income from international tourism did not reach the target of five billion US dollars but rather 4.3 billion.

However he admitted that the fall could have been worse had it not been for the charter flights which jumped 20.7%, transporting 423.514 visitors.

On the other hand Brazilian traveling overseas in 2006 spent US$ 5.8 billion, which represents a 22.12% increase compared to 2005 and is the highest since 1998.

Brazil's Ministry of Tourism expects a recovery in the number of foreign visitors since other Brazilian airlines have rapidly begun taking over the international flights forcibly abandoned by Varig's bankruptcy.

Mr. Favilla said that income from international tourism during January 2007 totaled US$ 484 million, which is 20.5% higher than in 2006.

Nevertheless not all tourism operators feel so optimistic about a quick recovery in the number of foreign tourists: crime in Brazil's main cities has become a major problem with ample coverage in the international media.

For a week last year the country's main industrial hub, São Paulo came to a virtual standstill when street gangs, commanded from the country's security jails, attacked police stations, patrol cars and public transport killing scores of security personnel, which was then followed by a rampage on the penitentiary system.

The strong Brazilian currency is also tempting more and more Brazilians to fly overseas thus helping to create a significant deficit in the country's tourism income equation.

Mercopress

Tags:

You May Also Like

Still a Long Way to First World for Brazil

Brazil needs to chase new markets to show its potential. This option was defended ...

Francal Brazil, LatAm’s Largest Shoe Fair, Draws Buyers from Europe and Americas

Abicalçados, the Brazilian Association of Shoe Manufacturers, has invited 19 international companies to attend ...

Brazil’s Lula Condemns Rich Countries for Building Border Fences and Walls

In a speech Tuesday before the UN General Assembly Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula ...

Brazil Is No Paradise. The Fantasy Is Over.

It was, is, a political earthquake. Suddenly, on 17 June 2013, more than 150,000 ...

Subway Landslide in Brazil Swallows Bus, Cars and Trucks. 7 Feared Dead

At least seven people are disappeared and feared dead following a landslide this afternoon ...

Boeing Crash: Brazilian Minister Says Legacy’s Transponder Was Off

Early analysis of the flight data recorders from two planes that collided in Brazil’s ...

RAPIDINHAS

Taste of BrazilBy Brazzil Magazine

Brazil's Potiguara Indians

Brazil’s Highest Court Sides With Indians Against Rice Farmers

Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) has denied writs of mandamus which challenged presidential decrees ...

Gathered in Brazil 5 Presidents Tell the US: “We Told You So”

Not all the action was in Switzerland. While bankers and politicians were meeting last ...

São Francisco river in Brazil

The Brazilian Drought Industry Is Doing Pretty Well

When candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited the São Francisco River during the ...