National tourism grew 12% in 2021

Tourism in Brazil grew 12% in 2021 compared to the previous year, according to a survey by the Tourism Council of the Federation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism of the State of São Paulo (FecomercioSP). The percentage represents a turnover of R$ 152.4 billion.

The volume, however, is still lower than in 2019, when the sum reached R$ 201.2 billion, 24.2% more, already discounting the inflation for the period.

Air transport was the activity with the highest growth, with an increase of 28% and annual revenues of R$ 37.7 billion. Then there is the accommodation and food group, with an increase of 13.1% in revenue, totaling R$ 45.2 billion.

These were the activities with the most retraction in 2020, which explains, in part, the most expressive increases. For FecomercioSP, however, there is a “solid recovery” with the advancement of vaccination.

The other segments that increased in 2021 were: water transport (8.8%), land transport (7.2%), vehicle rental, agencies and operators (2.5%) and cultural, recreational and sports activities (1 .6%).

In December, national tourism remained on the rise, with 22.6% more revenue compared to the same month in 2020, an amount of R$16.7 billion.

Once again, the airline sector was the highlight, with growth of 60.6%. This group was also the one with the highest revenue, with R$ 5.2 billion.

Accommodation and food services, in turn, increased by 15.7%, with revenues of R$ 4.9 billion. Cultural, recreational and sports activities registered growth of 13.1%.

The survey is based on the Annual Survey of Services and on data updated with variations from the Monthly Survey of Services, by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).