2024 was the best year in history for international tourism in Brazil. Proof of this is that the country reached the record mark of 6,657,377 foreign tourists in the year, an increase of 12.6% compared to 2023. The consolidated data were released 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 of 2023 and the third best December in the historical series that began in 1995.
Embratur President Marcelo Freixo attributed the results to the success of the international promotion work carried out by the Agency over the past two years. “At Embratur, we managed to structure the promotion of Brazil abroad with innovative programs and projects that are being copied around the world. It is an efficient policy and the results are felt by the Brazilian people in all regions 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 turn an important page: from potential to reality, a leading segment of the economy in generating employment and income, attracting international revenues and an economic development model that can be an ally of the environment,” he explained.
Tourism Minister Celso Sabino also celebrated the milestone. “It is a pleasure to be able to report such positive numbers for our country. This increase reflects our work to promote Brazil’s image abroad. Strategic advertising campaigns, structuring of destinations, participation in international fairs, our UN Tourism office in Rio de Janeiro and the strengthening of alliances within and outside the country have 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) emerged as the main entry points 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 foreigners in their territories.
Argentina continues 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. Very closely followed by Chileans, with 651,776 arrivals to Brazilian destinations. The neighboring countries Paraguay and Uruguay totaled more than 833,412 entries to the country.
Two out of three international tourists arriving in Brazil do so by plane. This means of transport remains the main means of access for these visitors, while land transport represents 28.7% of the total.
According to Minister Celso Sabino, “the growth in the number of international visitors is one of the main objectives of the National Tourism Plan (PNT) 2024-2027, which aims to consolidate Brazil as the main tourist destination in South America.” “Our expectation is to surpass the mark of 8.1 million foreign tourists per year, generating more than US$ 8.1 billion in revenue and further strengthening the national economy,” he said.
As of November 2024, foreign tourist spending in the country amounted to 6.62 billion dollars, the highest figure recorded in the first 11 months of the year since 1995. The figure is 5.3% higher than that recorded in the same period in 2023 (6.29 billion dollars) and even exceeds the amount for the same period in 2014 (6.3 billion dollars), when the country hosted the World Cup.
Joint actions
The Ministry of Tourism, in partnership with Embratur, has been working on different fronts to attract international tourists. 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). As a result of intense coordination by the Brazilian government, the headquarters will definitively place the country among the major global players in the sector, with the planning and adoption of actions in favor of the sustainable development of the entire region.
In addition, to reinforce the arrival of these tourists, MTur, in partnership with Embratur, once again made its presence felt at important and strategic international events to promote Brazilian destinations. The action involves the promotion of the “Brand Brazil”, an important initiative to rebuild the country's image abroad, now duly committed to sustainability, diversity and inclusion in the tourism sector.
Brazil also launched the brand “Visit South America: one place, many worlds.” The strategy is an alliance between the Brazilian government, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile to promote and position the destinations of these countries internationally in an integrated manner, focusing on natural, gastronomic and hotel attractions.
Future
By 2025, the Federal Government announced that the new regionalized announcements of the International Tourism Acceleration Program (PATI), a program executed by Embratur, with resources from the National Civil Aviation Fund (FNAC) arising from a partnership between the MTur and the Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor), have a forecast of US$ 10.6 million in investments to attract new flights on domestic routes.
At least 500,000 new seats are expected to be offered within a year, a figure that already represents a record number of seats on international flights for the 2024/2025 summer season: there will be 7.48 million, 19% more than in the 2023/2024 summer season.
In addition, this year Brazil will host important events such as the UN Climate Conference, COP 30, to be held in Belém, Pará, and the BRICS meeting in Brasilia, which are expected to attract thousands of international visitors to the country.
Source: Embratur.