The country of Rio de Janeiro ranked first in Latin America and returned to the top 20 in the world in the ranking of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).
Brazil has been highlighted by UN Tourism as one of the countries that are above the world average in economic recovery, in addition to having the best performance in Latin America in the World Economic Forum ranking on travel and tourism development.
According to the United Nations organization, tourism in the world reached 97% of circulation levels prior to the health crisis in the first quarter of 2024. In this case, Brazil surpassed the mark with the second largest quarter in the series historic for the country: there were 2.53 million entries, an increase of 10.4% compared to the first three months of 2019.
The value also exceeds the same period in 2023 by 9.8%, the year in which the country returned to pre-Covid levels in foreign visitors and had 2.3 million arrivals between January 1 and January 31. March.
The Brazilian quarterly record of 2024 is only below that of 2018, when the country received 2.66 million international tourists. According to UN Tourism, projections for this year point to a total recovery of tourist circulation around the world with a 2% increase in arrivals, surpassing 2019.
In the same period, Brazil also demonstrated greater growth than the average for the Americas. According to the UN report, the continent recovered to pre-pandemic levels and arrivals reached 99% of 2019 levels, below the national record.
In percentage terms, Brazilian growth was even above Europe, the largest tourist destination in the world, which had a 1% increase with 120 million international tourists in the first three months of this year compared to January, February and March of 2019.
For the president of Embratur, Marcelo Freixo, the result is important because international tourism is directly related to the country's image abroad.
"This ranking signals that the world realizes how our tourism is connected to the agenda of building a Brazil that develops sustainably," he stated.
IMPORTANCE OF BUSINESS TOURISM
In this growth of tourism activity, business tourism in Brazil also rose positions in the ranking of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).
The country ranked first in Latin America and returned to the global top 20 on the list. The selection takes into account the number of official events organized by the countries and the group announced it during IMEX, the world's largest business tourism fair, in Frankfurt, Germany.
In the survey that includes the entire American continent, the country came in third place, only behind the United States and Canada, resuming its position ahead of Argentina and Mexico.
Freixo recalled that event and business tourism represents half of international tourism and is fundamental for Brazil.
"We continue working to consolidate Brazil as one of the main event and business destinations in the world," he said.
