Brazil’s travel industry snared more tourists, profits in 2004

The amount of foreign tourists that visited Brazil in 2004 peaked 4.6 million, a walloping 12 percent increase from 2003, the Brazilian Tourism Institute (EMBRATUR) reported this week.

Estimates made by the South American nation’s Central Bank have it total expenditures by visiting tourists reached nearly $2.9 billion between the months of January and November, up 31 percent from the amount of cash reaped in that same span of time a year ago.

Charter flights exclusively used for the transportation of incoming travelers were also on the rise.

The amount of overseas visitors to Brazil has been growing in a piecemeal fashion for the last three years, jumping from 3.7 million in 2002 to 4.1 million in 2003 and on to 4.9 million in 2004. Revenues in 2003 totaled $3.4 billion, according to stats provided by EMBRATUR.

Brazil is no longer being exclusively sold as a sun-and-sand destination, but rather as a place teeming with many other allures, like cultural attractions worth taking a firsthand look at.

Regardless of those good final numbers on the board, the results are slightly shy of the projected goals for 2004. Authorities had estimated some 5 million tourists and $4.5 billion worth of profits.