Tourism in São Paulo resumes pre-pandemic levels

Tourism in the capital of São Paulo returned to pre-pandemic levels for the first time since January 2020, when it registered a growth of 10.7% in November 2022, compared to the previous month and reached the index number 100, a score that was in the first month of 2020.

The data are from the Monthly Index of Tourism Activity (Imat), from the Tourism Board of the Federation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism of the State of São Paulo (FecomercioSP) in partnership with the Tourism and Events Observatory, from SPTuris. The Imat of November also reached the index number 100, a score that was found in the first month of 2020, before the global health crisis.

FecomercioSP economic advisor Guilherme Dietze said that the expectation for 2023 is positive and favorable in the corporate and leisure sectors. “For 2023, the events and corporate sector will bring a lot of movement throughout that year and also the leisure sector. Events like Carnival this year are a differential, since last year we didn’t have them. THE [turismo] corporate is doing well, with very favorable movement in the whole chain, that is, in the area of ​​food, road transport, air transport, accommodation”.

In leisure, the expectation is for changes, since the city has been receiving more and more leisure tourists, who come to the capital to enjoy the cultural and gastronomic itineraries. “What we have been noticing over the last few years is that São Paulo has become a destination not only for business tourism, but people are traveling even in January, December, during the July holidays, periods that were weaker for the leisure tourism in the capital, but now more tourists are coming to Paulo to enjoy the gastronomy, culture, leisure, recreation, in short, what the city has in terms of potential”, said Dietze.

Formula 1

The president of the FecomercioSP Tourism Board, Mariana Aldrigui, said that November was an excellent month for the city, especially when considering the combination of holidays, Formula 1 and the flow of people shopping for both Black Friday and Christmas.

Compared to January 2020, Imat advanced 21.9%. November numbers were boosted mainly by the São Paulo Formula 1 Grand Prix, which provided a 33% monthly increase in average daily tourism revenues, reaching R$41.6 million. The amount is 77% higher than that recorded in the same month of 2021, when it was R$ 23.5 million per day.

In addition to the high prices, due to inflation, Formula 1 caused an increase in the average ticket in several tourist services in the city. In the hotel industry, the average occupancy rate in the month jumped from 64.9% in October to 71.9% in November 2022, above the 69% seen in the same month in 2021.

The average daily rate was the highest in the year, at R$587, according to a report by the Observatório do Turismo e Eventos of the City of São Paulo. The positive performance was also registered in the average movement in the airports of the capital. In November, 162.2 thousand passengers circulated through the airport terminals, a monthly increase of 6.1% and 23% in the annual comparison.

In the case of bus terminals, there was a drop of 2.3% in the daily average, from 34.6 thousand to 33.8 thousand. However, compared to November 2021, there was an increase of 10%.

In the assessment of the FecomercioSP Tourism Board, returning to the pre-pandemic level is an achievement for the sector “due to its resilience during the pandemic period and its strength to consolidate current growth. Possible declines from now on will not necessarily mean something negative. Monthly fluctuations will be more and more normal. Therefore, the most important thing is the constancy of the long-term ascending curve for the sector to grow in a solid and consistent way”, said the entity.