Brazil to receive 3.5 million foreign tourists in the summer

As summer approaches, Brazil is expected to attract around 3.5 million foreign tourists by March. If the numbers estimated by Embratur are confirmed, this will represent an 11%increase compared to 2016, which means an additional 360,000 tourists visiting Brazil in the period. Their arrival is expected to inject about US$ 3.15 billion in the country's economy.

At least 2.3 million of these tourists are likely to be Latin American, mainly from Argentina. About 2 million Argentinians are expected to travel to Brazil to enjoy the summer. Paraguay, Chile and Uruguay (respectively) complete the ranking of the main sources of tourists.

According to Embratur (the Brazilian Tourism Board), a number of factors attract more foreigners to Brazil. "We are investing in our neighbouring markets, which are the largest drivers of tourism into Brazil. The exchange rate is currently favourable for Argentinians, Paraguayans, Uruguayans and Chileans, for example. There is also a greater offer of international flights to Brazil, and our hotel network has also grown to meet this demand," said the president of the institution, Vinicius Lummertz.

In December this year, the number of international flights to Brazil grew 8.5%, with the total number of seats increasing by 11.8%. Tourism companies grew by 4.3% in revenue in Q3 2017.

Further facilitating travel, Brazil has also started issuing electronic visas. Australians have been able to issue their visas online since last month, and visitors from Canada, Japan and the United States (the latter the second largest source of tourists to Brazil) will have the same facility available to them in January. The e-visas are expected to be issued within 72 hours after the application is made by the tourist, at a cost of only US$ 40.

With the electronic system, which will also receive applications for business visas, there is an expectation of a 25% increase in the number of tourists from these countries coming to Brazil.