Brazil: Tourism posts US$90.2 billion loss in 2 years of pandemic

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The resumption of tourism in 2021 was not enough to offset the losses caused by the pandemic. According to the National Confederation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC), the sector invoiced R$214 (US$40.7) billion less in 2021.

From the beginning of the pandemic, in 2020, through last December, the loss reached R$473.7 billion.

After a 36.7% drop in 2020, the tourism sector closed 2021 growing 21.1% compared to 2020, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

In December, the volume of tourism activities grew 3.5% compared to November, but the activity level was still 11.4% below February 2020.

According to the CNC, a full recovery from these losses will not be achieved by 2022. The entity projects growth of only 1.7% in the volume of services provided in tourism activities this year. In addition to the health crisis, which led to the cancellation of events, the performance should also be affected by the economic situation.

“The adverse picture has not yet been reversed. Unlike other services, tourism activities are still operating ‘in the red’,” points out an excerpt from the report.

The CNC’s monitoring is based on the sector’s revenue in January and February 2020. December’s revenue was R$10.2 billion below the pre-pandemic level. At the peak of losses, in July 2020, monthly revenue was R$34.9 billion lower.

JOBS

The tourism sector’s partial recovery was also not enough to recover jobs. According to CNC estimates, 476,000 formal jobs were lost in 2020, based on the General Registry of Employed and Unemployed (CAGED). In 2021, the balance between hires and layoffs points to the creation of 150,900 jobs, less than a third of the total lost.

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