Tourism in Brazil

Tourism in Brazil is a growing sector and key to the economy of several regions of the country. The country had 5.026 million visitors in 2007, placing Brazil as the fourth largest tourist destination in the Americas, the main destination in South America, and second in Latin America after Mexico, in terms of the international tourist arrivals. [] and direct revenues from Brazilian tourist reached USD 21.8 billion, 5.6 times more receipts than international tourists in 2005.

Brazil offers for both domestic and international tourists, an ample gamut of options, with natural areas being its most popular tourism product, a combination of ecotourism with leisure and recreation, mainly sun and beach, and adventure travel, as well as historic and cultural tourism. Among the most popular destinations is the Amazon Rainforest, beaches and dunes in the Northeast Region, the Pantanal in the Center-West Region, beaches at the Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina, cultural and historic tourism in Minas Gerais and business trips to São Paulo city.

In terms of 2008 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), which is a measurement of the factors that make it attractive to develop business in the travel and tourism industry of individual countries, Brazil reached the 49th place in the world's ranking, second among Latin American countries, and sixth in the Americas.Cite web | author = Jennifer Blanke and Thea Chiesa, Editors |year = 2008 | url=http://www.weforum.org/pdf/CGR08/Rankings.pdf |title = The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008| page = | publisher = World Economic Forum, Geneva, Switzerland|accessdate=2008-06-14] Brazil main competitive advantages are shown by the subindex measuring human, cultural, and natural resources, where Brazil ranks sixth at the worldwide level, and third when only the natural resources criteria is considered. The TTCI report also notes Brazil's main weaknesses, information and communications technology infrastructure (ranked 58th), ground transport infrastructure (ranked 95th), and safety and security (ranked 128th). [cite web|url=http://www.weforum.org/ttcr08browse/index.html| title=Country/Economy Profiles: Brazil |publisher=The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008|date=2008-03-06|accessdate=2008-06-14|language=| author = World Economic Forum]

International tourism

Comparison with other Latin American destinations

The following is a comparative summary of Brazil's tourism industry key performance indicators as compared with countries considered among the most popular destinations in Latin America, and relevant economic indicators are included to show the relative importance that international tourism has on the economy of the selected countries.
* Note : The background green shadow denotes the country with the best indicator and y yellow shadow corresponds to Brazil indicators.

Domestic tourism

Domestic tourism is a key market segment for the tourism industry in Brazil. In 2005, 51 million Brazilian nationals made ten times more trips than foreign tourists and spent five times more money than their international counterparts. The main destination states in 2005 were São Paulo (27,7%), Minas Gerais (10,8%), Rio de Janeiro (8,4%), Bahia (7,4%) and Santa Catarina (7,2%). The top three state by trip origin were São Paulo (35,7%), Minas Gerais (13,6%) and Río de Janeiro (8,2%). In terms of tourism revenues, the top earners by state are São Paulo (16,4%) and Bahia (11,7%). For 2005 the three main trip purposes were visiting friends and family (53,1%), sun and beach(40,8%), and cultural tourism(12,5%).cite web| url=http://www.braziltour.com/site/arquivos/dados_fatos/demanda%20turistica/demanda_turismo_domestico_setembro_2006.pdf | author = Fundação Instituto de Pesquisas Econômicas e EMBRATUR| year = 2006 | title = Caracterização e Dimensionamento do Turismo Domêstico no Brasil 2002 e 2006: Metodologia e Desenvolvimento |publisher=Ministério do Turismo |accessdate=2008-06-22 | language=Portuguese ]

Tourism by regions of Brazil

=Southeast Region=

* Rio de Janeiro
* Rio de Janeiro State: Angra dos Reis, Paraty, Resende, Visconde de Mauá, Itatiaia National Park, Petrópolis, Vassouras, Teresópolis, Serra dos Órgãos, Nova Friburgo, Saquarema, Arraial do Cabo, Cabo Frio, Búzios, Ilha Grande
* Espírito Santo: Vitória, Guarapari, Anchieta, Piúma, Domingos Martins, Santa Teresa
* Minas Gerais: Belo Horizonte, Sabará, Ouro Preto, Congonhas, Mariana, Lavras, São João del Rei, Tiradentes, Diamantina, Caxambu, São Lourenço, São Thomé das Letras, Caparaó National Park, Pico da Bandeira, Serra do Cipó National Park
* São Paulo
* São Paulo State: São Sebastião, Ilhabela, Boiçucanga, Guarujá, Santos, Iguape, Cananéia, Campos do Jordão

=Southern Region=

* Paraná: Curitiba, Morretes, Antonina, Paranaguá, Ilha do Mel, Superagüi National Park, Foz do Iguaçu, Iguaçu Falls
* Santa Catarina: Florianópolis, Ilha de Santa Catarina, Joinville, Blumenau
* Rio Grande do Sul: Porto Alegre, Torres, Aparados da Serra National Park, Serra Gaúcha, Canela, Gramado

=Center-West Region=

* Distrito Federal: Brasília
* Goiás: Goiânia, Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, Pirenópolis, Goiás Velho, Caldas Novas, Emas National Park, Araguaia River
* Mato Grosso: Cuiabá, The Pantanal, Chapada dos Guimarães National Park, Barra do Garças, Alta Floresta, Cáceres, Barão de Melgaço, Poconé
* Mato Grosso do Sul: Campo Grande, Corumbá, Bonito, Ponta Porã, Aquidauana, Coxim, Jardim

=Northeast Region=

* Bahia: Salvador, Cachoeira, Lençóis, Morro de São Paulo, Ilhéus, Porto Seguro, Arraial d'Ajuda, Trancoso, Chapada Diamantina National Park, Abrolhos Marine National Park
* Pernambuco: Recife, Olinda, Itamaracá, Igarassu, Caruaru, Fazenda Nova, Nova Jerusalém, Garanhuns, Triunfo, Fernando de Noronha
* Ceará: Fortaleza, Aracati, Canoa Quebrada, Jericoacoara, Tatajuba, Camocim, Sobral, Baturité, Ubajara National Park, Juazeiro do Norte
* Sergipe: Aracaju, Laranjeiras, São Cristóvão, Estância, Propriá
* Alagoas: Maceió, Penedo
* Paraíba: João Pessoa, Baía da Traição, Sousa
* Rio Grande do Norte: Natal
* Piauí: Teresina, Sete Cidades National Park, Parnaíba, Serra da Capivara National Park
* Maranhão: São Luís, Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, Alcântara, Imperatriz, Carolina

=North Region=

* Amazonas: Manaus, Parintins, Tefé, Mamirauá
* Pará: Belém, Ilha de Marajó, Santarém
* Tocantins: Palmas, Ilha do Bananal, Natividade
* Amapá: Macapá, Oiapoque
* Roraima: Boa Vista, Monte Roraima
* Rondônia: Porto Velho, Guajará-Mirim, Guaporé Valley
* Acre: Rio Branco, Xapuri, Brasiléia, Assis Brasil

References