Strong summer air arrivals boosting Brazil tourism

Brazil is returning to travelers’ itineraries in 2022, with airline arrivals exhibiting a strong summer rebound.

South America’s largest country recorded 23,577 flight arrivals through July, surpassing airline arrivals for all of 2020, said officials at Embratur, Brazil’s tourism agency.

Brazil’s 2022 year-to-date total also equals more than 70 percent of airline visitors recorded during the same period in pre-pandemic 2019. Brazil’s 3,751 flight arrivals in July 2022 equals 72.3 percent of Brazil’s July 2019 airline capacity, said officials.

Brazil’s 2022 visitor totals already exceed the 22,353 arrivals reported in all of 2020.

“We have been working hard to promote Brazil in strategic markets, holding meetings with airlines to increase our flights,” said Silvio Nascimento, Embratur’s president. “Even in the face of difficulties [including] the price of airline tickets and strikes, we are maintaining the recovery scenario. This shows that we are on the right path.”

Brazil’s air arrivals fell 1.4 percent in July 2022 compared with June yet remained in line with an overall increase in international flights compared to the same month of 2021, said Embratur officials. International arrivals are below 2019 figures prior to the restrictions imposed by Covid-19, they added, when Brazil hosted 35,587 flights in that year’s first seven months.

Brazil’s tourism rebound is also evident in 2022 traveler spending numbers. Spending by international visitors in Brazil generated $1.23 billion between January and March of 2022, officials said.

Spending by international tourists totaled $693 million between January and March of 2021 and at $1.44 billion in the first three months of 2020. International spending in Brazil totaled $1.8 billion during the same period in 2019.