The year 2024 was the best year ever for foreign tourism in Brazil. As proof of this, the country reached a record number of 6,657,377 foreign tourists, a growth of 12.6% compared to 2023.
The consolidated data was released this Tuesday (07) by the Ministry of Tourism (MTur), Embratur and the Federal Police (PF).
In December alone, 690,236 foreigners visited Brazil, a number 11.1% higher than that recorded in the same month in 2023, being the third best December in the historical series that began in 1995.
The president of the Brazilian Agency for the Promotion of International Tourism (Embratur), Marcelo Freixo, attributed the results to the success of the international promotion work carried out by the agency in the last two years. “At Embratur we managed to structure the promotion of Brazil abroad with innovative programs and projects that are being replicated around the world. It is an efficient policy and the results are felt by the Brazilian people in every region of the country. This significant growth that we had in 2023 and 2024 will continue in the coming years, and Brazilian tourism is beginning to become a reality. It is no longer just a potential to become a leading segment in the generation of employment, income, attraction of international currencies and an economic development model allied to the environment,” he explained.
Tourism Minister Celso Sabino also celebrated the achievement: “It is a joy to be able to share such positive figures for our country. This increase reflects our work to promote Brazil’s image abroad. Strategic advertising campaigns, the structuring of destinations, participation in international fairs, our UN Tourism office in Rio de Janeiro and the strengthening of partnerships within and outside the country boosted our visibility, highlighting the diversity of experiences that Brazil has to offer, such as natural landscapes and our cultural heritage,” he commented.
The states of São Paulo (2,207,015), Rio de Janeiro (1,513,235), Paraná (894,536) and Rio Grande do Sul (879,412) stood out as the main gateways for these visitors in 2024. Proportionately, states such as Roraima (97%), Santa Catarina (71.7%), Bahia (52.8%) and Pará (47.4%), which will host COP30 at the end of the year, recorded significant increases in the number of foreign tourists in their territories.
Argentines continue to lead the volume of international visitors arriving in Brazil: more than 1,953,548 Argentines landed in the country this year. The United States occupies the second position, with 696,512 tourists, followed by Chileans with 651,776 arrivals. Paraguay and Uruguay, together, accounted for more than 833,412 entries to the country.
Two out of three international tourists arriving in Brazil do so by plane, which remains the main means of access for these visitors, while land transport represents 28.7% of the total.
“Growth in the number of international visitors is one of the main goals of the National Tourism Plan (PNT) 2024-2027, which seeks to consolidate Brazil as the main tourist destination in South America,” said Minister Sabino. “Our expectation is to surpass the mark of 8.1 million foreign tourists per year, generating more than 8.1 billion dollars in revenue and further strengthening the national economy,” he said.
By November 2024, foreign tourist spending in the country amounted to $6.62 billion, the highest figure recorded in the first 11 months of the year since 1995. This figure is 5.3% higher than the same period in 2023 ($6.29 billion) and even exceeds the figure for the same period in 2014 ($6.3 billion), when the country hosted the World Cup.
Joint actions
To attract international tourists, the Ministry of Tourism, in collaboration with Embratur, has worked on various initiatives. In December 2023, the first Office of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in the Americas and the Caribbean was inaugurated in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), the result of intense coordination by the Brazilian government.
In addition, MTur and Embratur have once again participated in important strategic international events to promote Brazilian destinations and strengthen the “Brand Brazil”, an initiative to rebuild the country's image abroad, committed to sustainability, diversity and inclusion in the tourism sector.
Source: Embratur.