Two of Brazil’s largest cities, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, have experienced a boost in the tourism industry as the world is coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), tourism in Rio de Janeiro has increased by 6.2 percent compared to the previous year, taking the contribution to the city’s GDP to 3.5 percent. Additionally, tourism contributed more than 2.3 percent to Sao Paulo’s GDP, representing more than 14.2 percent of the total economy in the South American country, VisaGuide.World reports.
WTTC’s latest report on the Economic Impact of Cities that Latin America is making positive progress noted that these two cities had improved the country’s GDP as well as employment levels.
More specifically, the contribution of the tourism sector to Rio de Janeiro’s GDP represented three percent of the total economy in Brazil in 2019– accounting for $3.2 billion. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it decreased by 20.6 percent drop, and it further recovered by 28.8 and 6.2 percent in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Following this, the city’s tourism sector contributed almost €3.5 billion, with which it surpassed its levels of contribution to the city’s GDP, as well as to the national one, compared to 2019, with 3.5 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively.
Furthermore, the level of jobs corresponding to the sector increased by 8.5 percent compared to 2021, which generates more than 172,740 direct jobs, accounting for 3.1 percent of the total jobs in Rio de Janeiro.
Moreover, international tourists spent almost €380 million in Rio de Janeiro in 2022, while the expenditure dropped by $10 billion for domestic travelers in the destination – 13.5 percent compared to 2021.
Sao Paulo had a contribution of 2.2 percent to the GDP of the city, which equals almost $6 billion in 2019. However, that dropped by 31.3 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021 and 2022, on the other hand, it recovered by 36.3 and 2.7 percent, respectively.
“In this way, at the end of last year, the city’s tourism sector contributed $5.74 billion, with which it managed to exceed its levels of contribution to the municipality’s GDP, as well as to the national one, compared to 2019, with 2.3 percent and 14.2 percent, respectively. The city has seen a near full recovery, just four percent below pre-pandemic levels,” WTTC explains in the press release.
As per jobs generated in 2022, there were more than 281,830 new positions, making a 2.2 percent contribution to the total jobs in the destination and almost 13 percent to the whole country.
Furthermore, travel spending also changed during this period, presenting a contribution of almost $99 billion in international tourists. Additionally, a growth of 24.2 percent was noticed among domestic tourists, who spent nearly $6.21 billion. Altogether, spending increased to $1.28 trillion more than in 2019.
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