Federal Police data, obtained by the Ministry of Tourism, showed an increase of almost 16% in the entry of tourists from the United States, Canada and Australia between the months of June and December 2019. In the period, 321,712 people from the three countries visited Brazil , compared to 277,421 registered in the same months of 2018. Of the four countries exempt, Japan was the only one that had a drop, with 9% (- 3,199).
Quantitatively, the United States was the country that most brought new tourists to the Brazilian territory in this period: 34,932 more visitors. The number resulted in an increase of 14.8%. Canada sent 6,650 more tourists, positively impacting the movement in Brazil by 26%. Australia, on the other hand, increased by 16.3%, the equivalent of 2,709 more tourists to discover the beauty of Brazil.
For the Minister of Tourism, Marcelo Álvaro Antônio, the numbers prove the need for this action to stimulate the sector in the country. “We are seeing that this was another right decision by President Jair Bolsonaro to move the Brazilian economy and make the country’s tourism reach the well-deserved level. It is a strategic opening, which has a strong potential to contribute to the generation of foreign exchange, employment and income through tourism in our country ”, he celebrated.
The number is also positive for the three countries when compared to closed years. The registered increase was 13.8%. Highlight to the USA and Canada, with 48,530 and 11,529 more tourists in the country, respectively. Australia brought 3,927 more visitors during the year to the country.
Despite the increase in these countries, Japan fell by 4.47% in the year. “It is important to specifically evaluate the case of Japan so that, together with the new Embratur, we can work on the massive promotion of Brazil in the country and expand the visit of these tourists to our country,” pondered the minister.
Effective since June 17, 2019, visa facilitation is a historic demand from businessmen in the sector. In the last year, when Brazil adopted the electronic visa to facilitate the entry of tourists from the same four countries, an increase of 15.73% was registered in the arrival of visitors of these nationalities. According to the spending profile and permanence of these travelers, this represents an increase of R $ 450 million in the economy.
According to the World Tourism Organization, travel facilitation measures can generate an increase of up to 25% in the flow of travelers between countries. Another technical data that supported the Brazilian government’s decision to exempt strategic countries from the visa requirement was a survey carried out during the 2016 Olympics. For 82.2% of foreign tourists from the four countries benefited from the measure, visa exemption facilitates the return to the country.