Brazil saw a record breaking number of foreign tourists visit the country in 2012, according to the International Tourist Demand Survey published this Wednesday (28.08) by Brazil’s Ministry of Tourism. The survey conducted by the Foundation Institute of Economic Research (FIPE) reveals that 5.67 million foreign tourists visited the country in 2012, a 4.5% increase in relation to the previous year.
After the Confederations Cup and World Youth Day, in 2013, the number of foreign tourists is expected to reach over 6 million.
According to the survey, 84.5% of visitors declared that the trip fully met or more than met their expectations. Among those interviewed, 95.7% said that they intend to come back. “The foreign tourist perception that the country is a great destination, full of naturally beautiful sites, welcoming people that knows how to play host, remains almost untouched, which is a positive factor. A significant piece of data, which contradicted the expectation of many, is visitors who intend on coming back. It also shows that visitors were satisfied with some services and that we were too concerned over taxis and restaurants”, said the Minister of Tourism Gastão Vieira.
The best assessed services were hospitality (97.7%), the flavours of the Brazilian cuisine (95.5%) and accommodation (93.2%). At a lesser degree of satisfaction were the price of products and services (56.1% approval rate), telephone services (67.7%), roadways (70%), airports (73%) and signs (76.5%).
Number of tourists that visit Brazil
In relation to the number of tourists that visited Brazil, Argentina leads with 1.67 million people, or 29% of the total of foreign visitors. Then, we have the United States with 586 thousand, Germany with 258 thousand and Uruguay with 253.8 thousand. “In Europe they’re very careful with their money. The destination ends up being less important than the cost, but in compensation, we have the Americans, whose economy is on the upturn. Based on World Cup ticket sales, the nationalities that have requested the highest number of tickets were the Argentineans and the Americans", explained the minister, referring to the first few hours of sales for the 2014 World Cup.
