Domestic tourism in Brazil up 43.5% in March

National tourism made BRL 15.4 billion in March this year—up 43.5 percent, or BRL 4.8 billion—from the same period in 2021. The figures can be found in a survey conducted by the Tourism Council of the Federation of Commerce of Goods, Services, and Tourism of São Paulo state, FecomercioSP.

The organization says the sector is nearing pre-pandemic levels, even though numbers are 7.1 percent lower compared to March 2019.

The growth this year was mainly driven by the airline sector, which grossed BRL 4.4 billion, 113.5 percent up in one year, FecomercioSP pointed out. Against 2019, the segment had 3.8 percent lower sales.

“Four factors contributed to the growth of air transport in the month, among them greater containment of the Omicron variant, a suppressed demand in the pandemic, Carnival days in the beginning of the month, and the near abolition of restrictive measures and mask use. Besides these, the rise in aviation kerosene influenced the increase in revenues by bringing ticket prices up in the second half of March,” said FecomercioSP.

Accommodation and food services rose 57.7 percent, with sales totaling BRL 4.45 billion. Cultural, recreational, and sports activities grew 33.2 percent, reaching BRL 1.25 billion.

The authority states the same factors around the airline sector also impacted ground transportation—which billed BRL 2.7 billion, up 11.1 percent, surpassing the level recorded in March 2019 by 9.3 percent. The increase in airfares is likely to continue boosting the demand for travel via interstate buses.

Activities linked to the rental of transport, tourism agency, operators, and related services saw an annual high of 4.5 percent, with revenues standing at BRL 2.54 billion. The performance within this group was three percent below March 2019.

Water transport posted revenues of BRL 41.4 billion, a decline of 1.6 percent year on year. According to the body, the decrease is related to the basis of comparison, as the sector showed a favorable performance during the pandemic, exceeding the level before the health crisis by 25.2 percent.