The Patient, Adventurous (and increasingly wealthy) Brazilian Tourist

We’ve just finished a four-day long weekend in Brazil, and most people I know locally are either on trip to the US, returning from one, or planning for one. Flights everywhere for the holiday weekend were anecdotally either sold out or extraordinarily expensive. No matter where in the world I travel these days, I seem to meet Brazilians – whether it is in line at a Starbucks in New York, or on a safari in east Africa. A friend in Miami recently shared a story of being in an hot new restaurant when a group of Brazilians arrived, ordering the most expensive bottles of wine and bringing a healthy amount of laughter and fun to the entire restaurant. It’s clear that as markets like Brazil continue to experience rapid economic growth, Brazilians tourists will increasingly be seen in the US and around the world.

Truth in Numbers: Brazilian Tourists are Big Spenders
According to Brazil’s Central Bank, Brazilian tourists spend an average of USD $43.3 million a day in countries around the world, outside of Brazil; spending USD $1.4 billion this April alone, up 83% from the same period last year. In 2010, 1.2 million Brazilians visited the United States, injecting USD $5.9 billion into the US economy.

Travel to the US is Not as Easy as it Could be – but Brazilians are Going Anyway
Ironically, despite the positive economic benefits of increased tourism to the US, it is far from easy for most Brazilians to have the opportunity. As Brazil is not one of the 36 countries currently on the US Visa Waiver List, all Brazilian citizens must apply for – and receive – a visa before entering the US. This wait time to process these visa applications can be as high as 141 days, according to the US Travel Association, despite claims by the US State Department that the average international wait time is 30 days. Purportedly, the consular staff in São Paulo is currently processing an average of 2,300 visas every day, more than any other US consulate in the world – and they are hoping to double their production levels by next year just to keep pace with demand.

Brazil now represents the fastest-growing non-immigrant visa demand in the world, up 234% over the past five years, eclipsing even China’s 124% increase in US visa issuances, according to the US State Department.

Many Reasons to Go Abroad…
There are many reasons to explain this influx in US tourism, specifically, and many more reasons to help explain why it will likely continue: Brazil’s GDP continues to grow, the Brazilian Real currency continues to gain strength on the dollar, and taxes/tariffs continue to make imported goods sold locally significantly more expensive than the same item if it was purchased outside of Brazil or substituted for a local alternative. All of this, of course, is in the context of established travel routes, cultural connections, expanding infrastructure for upcoming Big Events, the growth of English as a second or third language, and increasing foreign investments (both ways) enabling more business trips to be combined or followed-up with personal vacations. Job growth also continues to grow steadily in Brazil, enabling more opportunities for Brazilians to travel and explore.

Opportunities in Travel & Tourism
As this trend is likely to continue, there is significant opportunity to attract Brazilian tourists and provide services all along the tourism value chain. Time Magazine recently mentioned that even exclusive ski resorts in Vermont are trying to hire Portuguese-speaking ski instructors to meet the growing demand: "Brazil is our fastest growing international market — up 20% from last season," says Chris Belanger of Stowe Mountain Resort.

Time Magazine: Let Them In: How Brazilians Could Help the U.S. Economy
Photo: Passengers check the information at monitors in the departure terminal of the Tom Jobim International airport in Rio de Janeiro on April 19, 2010.  Vanderlei Almeida / AFP / Getty Images

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 26th, 2011 at 9:32 pm. It is filed under Brazil, Economic Trends, Tourism and tagged with Employment, Infrastructure, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.