The Brazilian summer remains a popular time for tourism, with January seeing a surge in international visitors, particularly to destinations with sunny beaches. Over 956,000 foreign tourists arrived in Brazil, marking an increase in visitors from all major source markets except Argentina, which faces economic difficulties.
Data from Embratur, the Ministry of Tourism, and the Federal Police show that this summer's level of tourism was maintained, with only a slight decrease of 1.4%, mainly due to the lower frequency of Argentine visitors. There were 14,538 fewer foreign tourists, as the country received 971,275 visitors from abroad in the first 31 days of 2023.
The Authorities' Measures
Tourists from Argentina, who have been the main source of visitors to Brazil, decreased by 19% compared to January 2023. This equates to a reduction of 110,310 visitors, as only 452,136 Argentines arrived this year, compared to 562,446 Argentinians who came to enjoy the summer and pre-carnival festivities in January 2023. Despite this negative result, Embratur, the Brazilian Tourism Board, implemented a contingency plan to mitigate the impact of Argentina's current economic crisis.
Starting in May 2023, Embratur reoriented its efforts in two ways. Firstly, to promote Brazil as an appealing destination for high-net-worth Argentine tourists who have had to revise their travel plans due to the rising cost of the dollar and euro. Secondly, to promote Brazil in other Latin American countries, attract more visitors, and compensate for the loss of Argentine tourists.
The President of Embratur, Marcelo Freixo, explained that by adopting this strategy, they could maintain the registration of foreign tourists entering Brazil at levels equivalent to January last year. Although Argentina continues to be the primary source of tourists, the second largest source was Paraguay, which showed an increase in the number of entries to the country from 84,884 in January 2023 to 104,338 in 2024, a percentage growth of 22.9%. The authorities' attention was also focused on other countries throughout the continent, including Chile, which yielded important results in the short term.
Chile Stands out
In January, Chile ranked third in the number of foreign tourists that visited Brazil. Chile also had the highest percentage growth, with an increase of 47.8%. Chile went from 52,217 tourists in Brazil in January 2023 to 77,221 visitors in January of this year. This is an increase of 25,004 visitors. In 2023, Chile's tourism industry returned to the pre-pandemic level recorded in 2018 and regained its position as the third largest source market for tourists to Brazil. The total number of arrivals from Chile was 458,576.
Uruguay ranked fourth in the number of foreign tourists that visited Brazil in January. They sent 56,438 tourists to Brazil in January last year, and this year, they sent 62,848 visitors. This is an increase of 6,410 tourists, or 11.3%. The United States ranked fifth with an increase in tourists in January at 8.9%. In January last year, the US sent 47,651 tourists to Brazil; this year, the number increased to 51,919 visitors, an increase of 4,268 tourists.
Bolivia ranked sixth and sent 17,686 tourists to Brazil last January, an increase of 4,396 visitors. Peru ranked seventh with 9,214 entries registered, an increase of 2,194 visitors. Ecuador ranked eighth with 1,690 arrivals, a rise of 78 tourists, and Venezuela ranked ninth, with 1,184 tourists in the first month of this year, an increase of 158 visitors compared to January of the previous year. The other issuing countries had a combined growth of 40,636, from 167,639 to 208,275 visitors in the comparison between the periods.
