By Kate Rintoul, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – According to data released by the Brazilian Association for the Hotel Industry (ABIH), 886,000 tourists traveled to Rio de Janeiro for the World Cup and revenue gained from this influx of visitors greatly exceeded expectations.
Prior to the World Cup, which started on June 12th in São Paulo, the Ministry of Tourism had estimated tourist spending would inject R$1 billion to Rio’s local economy. Data released this week by Rio’s Municipal Bureau of Tourism has put this figure at R$4.4 billion.
The majority of visitors, 471,000 were foreign and according to the same research, the average duration of stay was nine days in which time the average expenditure of tourists was R$639.
While over two hundred different nationalities traveled to Brazil for the World Cup, certain groups were extremely well represented with an estimated 100,000 Argentinians, many of whom did not have tickets to the match and watched the game at Copacabana’s Fan Fest or in bars, and injecting upwards of US$100 million into the state’s economy.
The study also found that overall average occupancy rate of hotels was 93.8 percent, reaching 99.75 percent in the days leading up to the final between Germany and Argentina at Rio’s Maracanã Stadium.
The Municipal Secretary of Tourism, Antonio Pedro Figueira de Mello, said that the event was successful and had brought tourists who would not have previously considered coming to Rio to the city. “It is so important that they have evaluated the hospitality well and have stated that they would recommend Rio when they returned to home. It has captivated an audience that we need.”
This insight was confirmed by a satisfaction survey conducted on behalf of the municipality by GMR Market Intelligence which showed that 98.3 percent of foreign visitors would recommend the Rio de Janeiro to their relatives and friends. According to the survey, 76 percent of foreign respondents considered public safety and cleanliness to be “good or great” and a further 97.1 percent said this of the hospitality they had received in Rio.
Read more (in Portuguese).
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