Tourism in Brazil 📖 Wikipedia

Tourism in Brazil is a growing sector and key to the economy of several regions of the country. It had 9.28 million visitors in 2025, an increase of 32% compared to 2024,^[2] ranking in terms of the international tourist arrivals as the second main destination in Latin America after Mexico.^[3] Revenues from international tourists reached US$7.9 billion (R$41.5 billion), an increase of 7.1% over 2024, according to data from the foreign sector statistics report released by the Central Bank (Bacen).^[4]

Brazil offers for both domestic and international tourists an ample range of options, with natural areas being its most popular tourism product, a combination of leisure and recreation, mainly sun and beach, and adventure travel, as well as historic and cultural tourism. Among the most popular destinations are beaches at Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina, business trips to São Paulo city, cultural and historic tourism in Minas Gerais, the Iguazu Falls and the Pantanal in the Center-West Region.^[5]

In terms of the 2024 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), which is a measurement of the factors that make it attractive to develop business in the travel and tourism industry of individual countries, Brazil ranked in the 26th place at the world's level, third in the Americas, after Canada and United States.^[6] Brazil’s main competitive advantages are its natural resources, which ranked 3rd on this criterion out of all countries considered in the Americas, and ranked 2nd for its cultural resources, due to its many World Heritage Sites.^[7] The 2013 TTCI report also notes Brazil's main weaknesses: its ground transport infrastructure remains underdeveloped (ranked 129th), with the quality of roads ranking in the 121st place, and quality of air transport infrastructure in 131st; and the country continues to suffer from a lack of price competitiveness (ranked 126th), due in part to high and increasing ticket taxes and airport charges, as well as high and rising prices more generally. Safety and security improved significantly between 2008 and 2013, moving from 128th to 73rd place,^[8] before slipping to 106th by 2017.^[9]

Tourist arrivals of 2024 in %^[10]

Historical international tourism arrivals 1995-2019
Year	International tourist arrivals (x1000)	Annual growth (%)	Total revenue (millions USD)	Annual growth (%)
1995[11][12]	1,991	-	972	-
2000[11][12]	5,313	-	1,810	-
2003[11][12]	4,133	-	2,479	-
2004[11][12]	4,794	16.0	3,222	30.0
2005[13]	5,358	11.8	3,861	19.8
2006[13]	5,019	-6.3	4,316	1.1
2007[14][15]	5,025	0.1	4,953	14.8
2008[16][17]	5,050	0.5	5,780	16.7
2009[18]	4,802	-4.9	5,305	-8.2
2010[19][20]	5,161	7.5	5,702	7.5
2011[19]	5,433	5.3	6,555	14.9
2012[19]	5,677	4.5	6,645	1.3
2013[21]	5,813	2.4	6,704	0.9
2014	6,430	n/a	n/a	n/a
2015	6,306	n/a	n/a	n/a
2016[22]	6,578	n/a	n/a	n/a
2017[22]	6,589	0.6	5,809	n/a
2018[23]	6,621	0.5	5,921	n/a
2019[23]	6,353	-4.4	5,995	n/a

Yearly tourist arrivals in millions^[24][25][26]

According to the World Tourism Organization, international travel to Brazil began to grow fast since 2000, particularly during 2004 and 2005. However, in 2006 a slow down took place, and international arrivals have had almost no growth both in 2007 and 2008.^{[13][16][27][28]} In spite of this trend, revenues from international tourism continued to rise, from US$3.9 billion in 2005 to US$4.9 billion in 2007, a US$1 billion increase despite 333,000 less arrivals. This favorable trend is the result of the strong devaluation of the American dollar against the Brazilian real, which began in 2004, but on the other hand, making Brazil a more expensive international destination.^[29] This trend changed in 2009, when both visitors and revenues fell as a result of the 2008–2009 economic crisis.^[18] By 2010, the industry recovered, and arrivals grew above 2006 levels to 5.16 million international visitors, and receipts from these visitors reached US$5.9 billion.^[20] In 2012, the historical record was reached with 5.6 million visitors and US$6.6 billion in receipts.^[19]

Despite continuing record breaking of international tourism revenues, the number of Brazilian tourists travelling overseas has been growing steadily since 2003, resulting in a net negative foreign exchange balance, as more money is spent abroad by Brazilian than receipts from international tourist visiting Brazil. Tourism expenditures abroad grew from US$5.76 billion in 2006, to US$8.21 billion in 2007, a 42.45% increase, representing a net deficit of US$3.26 billion in 2007, as compared to US$1.45 billion in 2006, a 125% increase from the previous year.^[30] This trend is caused by Brazilians taking advantage of the stronger Real to travel and making relatively cheaper expenditures abroad.^[30] Brazilian traveling overseas in 2006 represented 3.9% of the country's population.^[31]

In 2005, tourism contributed with 3.2% of the country's revenues from exports of goods and services, and represented 7% of direct and indirect employment in the Brazilian economy.^[32] In 2006, direct employment in the sector reached 1.87 million people.^[33] Domestic tourism is a fundamental market segment for the industry, as 51 million traveled throughout the country in 2005,^[34] and direct revenues from Brazilian tourists reached US$21.8 billion,^[35] 5.6 times more receipts than international tourists in 2005.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, Rio de Janeiro, Foz do Iguaçu, São Paulo, Florianópolis, and Salvador were the most visited cities by international tourists for leisure trips. The most popular destinations for business trips were São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Porto Alegre.^[36] In 2006, Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza were the most popular destinations by national visitors.^[37]

Visitors arriving in Brazil, by country of residence^[39][2]

Country	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011
Argentina	3.386.823	1.960.182	1,882,240	1,032,762	67,280	887,805	1,954,725	2,498,483	2,622,327	2,294,900	2,079,823	1,743,930	1,711,491	1,671,604	1,593,775
United States	759.637	728.537	668,478	441,007	132,182	172,105	590,520	538,532	475,232	570,350	575,796	656,801	592,827	586,463	594,947
Chile	801.921	653.895	458,576	202,470	46,673	131,174	391,689	387,470	342,143	311,813	306,331	336,950	268,203	250,586	217,200
Paraguay	528.554	465.020	424,460	308,234	132,126	122,981	406,526	356,897	336,646	316,714	301,831	293,841	268,932	246,401	192,730
Uruguay	524.729	388.464	334,703	180,064	11,575	113,714	364,830	348,336	328,098	284,113	267,321	223,508	262,512	253,864	261,204
France	293.008	235.163	187,559	130,910	34,848	70,369	257,504	238,345	254,153	263,774	261,075	282,375	224,078	218,626	207,890
Portugal	273.483	218.354	182,463	149,747	38,704	51,028	176,229	145,816	144,095	149,968	162,305	170,066	168,250	168,649	183,728
Germany	209.854	182.166	158,582	120,670	29,514	61,149	206,882	209,039	203,045	221,513	224,549	265,498	236,505	258,437	241,739
Italy	190.342	154.495	129,447	86,766	18,907	45,646	182,587	175,763	171,654	181,493	202,015	228,734	233,243	230,114	229,484
United Kingdom	187.396	153.754	130,239	87,909	9,809	48,595	163,425	154,586	185,858	202,671	189,269	217,003	169,732	155,548	149,564
Spain	160.484	132.484	114,096	83,745	22,828	32,665	145,325	147,159	137,202	147,846	151,029	166,759	169,751	180,406	190,392
Peru	175.418	131.368	99,353	61,634	13,077	33,895	135,880	121,326	115,320	114,276	113,078	117,230	98,602	91,996	86,795
Bolivia	128.494	129.992	123,803	90,694	26,330	45,449	132,069	126,253	126,781	138,106	108,149	95,300	95,028	112,639	85,429
Colombia	194.467	129.501	118,163	84,470	27,892	27,129	126,595	131,596	140,363	135,192	118,866	158,886	116,461	100,324	91,345
Mexico	121.884	99.137	82,324	52,171	12,731	18,068	82,921	79,891	81,778	94,609	90,361	109,637	76,738	61,658	64,451
Canada	103.163	96.540	86,591	54,252	8,077	26,950	77,043	71,160	48,951	70,103	68,293	78,531	67,610	68,462	70,358
China	103.122	76.524	42,542	8,787	2,360	6,297	68,578	56,333	61,250	57,860	53,064	57,502	60,140	65,945	55,978
Japan	68.719	61.129	42,341	17,635	1,904	20,476	78,914	63,708	60,342	79,754	70,102	84,636	87,225	73,102	63,247
Switzerland	63.604	58.092	50,359	38,371	13,568	17,063	63,826	70,040	69,484	69,074	70,319	80,277	68,390	69,571	65,951
Netherlands	64.773	54.273	45,917	35,488	9,080	16,532	59,752	62,651	59,272	72,268	66,870	81,655	69,187	73,133	72,162
Australia	56.308	52.888	46,935	25,825	1,650	17,932	56,158	42,235	33,862	49,809	44,896	67,389	45,079	43,161	35,642
Ireland	48.935	42.832	35,983	30,216	4,478	10,419	34,973	23,917	13,363	16,428	17,651	19,467	19,352	18,457	16,871
Ecuador	59.060	38.493	33,273	18,971	6,593	7,646	31,040	29,374	34,244	30,604	34,899	42,349	29,324	26,462	25,495
Others	783.018	530.336	429,914	287,233	73,685	161,348	565,150	542,466	543,307	673,458	727,946	851,528	674,682	651,235	636,977
Total	9.287.196	6.773.619	5,908,341	3,630,031	745,871	2,146,435	6,353,141	6,621,376	6,588,770	6,546,696	6,305,838	6,429,852	5,813,342	5,676,843	5,433,354

The year 2025 marked a record-breaking number of international visitors,^[40] as announced by Embratur and the Ministry of Tourism. In 2025, Brazil registered 9,287,196 international arrivals from 205 countries. This represented a 37% increase compared to the previous record set in 2024, far surpassing the influx of tourists recorded during major mega-events hosted by the country, such as the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The most significant growth in arrivals came from Argentina, which saw a 72% year-over-year (YoY) increase. With over 3.3 million tourists, Argentines formed the largest demographic group to visit Brazil, followed by visitors from Chile, the United States, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Brazil also registered a substantial rise in tourists from Europe and Asia, with an overall increase of more than 20% from these regions. The United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Italy, and China represented the largest source markets outside the Americas.^[39]

The following table provides a breakdown of the top 88 source nationalities visiting Brazil, comparing arrival data between 2024 and 2025, alongside the year-over-year percentage growth:^[2][41]

The following is a comparative summary of Brazil's tourism industry key performance indicators as compared with countries considered among the most popular destinations in Latin America, and relevant economic indicators are included to show the relative importance that international tourism has on the economy of the selected countries.

Selected Caribbean and Latin American countries	Internl. tourist arrivals 2019[42] (x1000)	Internl. tourism receipts 2019[42] (million USD)	Receipts per arrival 2019 (col 2)/(col 1) (USD)	Arrivals per capita per 1000 pop. (estimated) 2007[27][43]	Receipts per capita 2005[12] USD	Revenues as % of exports goods and services[32] 2003	Tourism revenues as % GDP[8][32] 2012	% Direct & indirect employment in tourism[8][32] 2012	World Ranking Tourism Compet.[6] TTCI 2024	Index value TTCI[6] 2024
Argentina	7,399	5,241	708	115	57	7.4	10.5	9.9	49	4.10
Brazil	6,353	5,995	944	26	18	3.2	8.9	8.1	26	4.41
Chile	4,518	2,302	510	151	73	5.3	8.4	8.0	31	4.33
Colombia	4,169	5,682	1,363	26	25	6.6	5.1	5.5	40	4.08
Costa Rica	3,139	3,988	1,270	442	343	17.5	12.5	11.7	51	4.08
Cuba	4,263	2,596	609	188	169	n/d	n/d	n/d	n/d	n/d
Dominican Republic	6,446	7,472	1,159	408	353	36.2	14.7	13.6	64	3.88
Jamaica	2,681	3,639	1,357	628	530	49.2	25.7	23.8	84	3.59
Mexico	45,024	24,573	546	201	103	5.7	12.4	13.7	38	4.26
Panama	1,753	4,520	2,578	330	211	10.6	10.1	9.6	63	3.90
Peru	4,372	3,738	855	65	41	9.0	9.1	7.8	62	3.90
Uruguay	3,056	2,255	738	525	145	14.2	10.2	9.7	71	3.79

• Notes: Green shadow denotes the country with the top indicator. Yellow shadow corresponds to Brazilian indicators.

Tourist visa requirements have been waived for citizens of Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vatican City, and Venezuela.

Tourist visas also applies to lecturers at conferences, for visiting relatives and/or friends, unpaid participation in athletic or artistic event or competition (in this case an invitation letter from the sponsoring organization in Brazil is required), and unpaid participation in a scientific/academic seminar or conference sponsored by a research or academic institution (in this case, an invitation letter from the sponsoring organization in Brazil is required).^[44]

In 2023, according to the "Best Amusement and Water Parks" ranking, from the "Travelers' Choice" award, from the TripAdvisor website, Brazil had 4 of the 25 best entertainment parks in the world: Beto Carrero World (2nd), in Santa Catarina; Beach Park (3rd), in Ceará; Terra Mágica Florybal Park (13th), in Rio Grande do Sul; and Hot Park [pt] (18th), in Goiás.^[45]

Geopark Paleorrota is the main area of geotourism in Rio Grande do Sul and one of the most important in Brazil. With 83,000 km² (32,000 sq mi) inside 281,000 km² (108,000 sq mi) of the state, where many fossils of the Permian and Triassic period, with ages ranging between 210 and 290 million years ago, when there were only the continent Pangaea.

In the region Metropolitan Porto Alegre there are 5 museums to visit. In Paleorrota Geopark there are 7 museums, the Palaeobotanical Garden in Mata and the Paleontological Sites of Santa Maria to be visited. The BR-287, nicknamed Highway of Dinosaurs, crosses 17 of 41 municipalities of the geopark.

Bonito, in Mato Grosso do Sul, is considered the Brazilian capital of ecotourism.^[46] This type of tourism also occurs in places like Pantanal and Amazon rainforest,^[47][48] Brotas, Cambará do Sul, Canela, Caravelas, Chapada Diamantina, Chapada dos Veadeiros, Ilha Grande, Ilha do Mel, Iporanga, Itacaré, Itatiaia, Itaúnas State Park, Jalapão, Jericoacoara, Monte Verde, Morro de São Paulo, Pirenópolis, Socorro, Ubatuba, Lavrinhas and many others.^[49]

Domestic tourism is a key market segment for the tourism industry in Brazil. In 2005, 51 million Brazilian nationals made ten times more trips than foreign tourists and spent five times more money than their international counterparts.^[34] The main destination states in 2005 were São Paulo (27.7%), Minas Gerais (10.8%), Rio de Janeiro (8.4%), Bahia (7.4%), and Santa Catarina (7.2%). The top three states by trip origin were São Paulo (35.7%), Minas Gerais (13.6%).^[34]

In terms of tourism revenues, the top earners by state were São Paulo (16.4%) and Bahia (11.7%). For 2005, the three main trip purposes were visiting friends and family (53.1%), sun and beach (40.8%), and cultural tourism (12.5%).^[31]

• Southeast Region:
  • Rio de Janeiro: Rio de Janeiro, Angra dos Reis, Paraty, Resende, Visconde de Mauá, Itatiaia National Park, Petrópolis, Vassouras, Teresópolis, Serra dos Órgãos, Nova Friburgo, Saquarema, Arraial do Cabo, Cabo Frio, Búzios, Ilha Grande;
  • Espírito Santo: Vitória, Vila Velha, Guarapari, Anchieta, Piúma, Marataízes, São Mateus, Conceição da Barra, Domingos Martins, Santa Teresa;
  • Minas Gerais: Belo Horizonte, Sabará, Ouro Preto, Congonhas, Mariana, Lavras, São João del-Rei, Tiradentes, Diamantina, Serro, Araxá, Caxambu, São Lourenço, São Thomé das Letras, Capitólio, Camanducaia, Caparaó National Park, Pico da Bandeira, Serra do Cipó National Park, Serra da Canastra National Park;
  • São Paulo: São Paulo, São Sebastião, Ilhabela, Boiçucanga, Poá, Guararema, Guarujá, Santos, Iguape, Cananéia, São Vicente, Campos do Jordão, Holambra, Campinas, Ribeirão Preto, São José dos Campos, Sorocaba, Americana, Araçatuba, Araraquara, Araras, Atibaia, Barretos, Birigüi, Botucatu, Bragança Paulista, Itu, Jaú.
• Southern Region:
  • Paraná: Curitiba, Morretes, Antonina, Paranaguá, Ilha do Mel, Superagui National Park, Foz do Iguaçu, Iguaçu Falls, Guaratuba;
  • Santa Catarina: Florianópolis, Santa Catarina Island, Joinville, Blumenau, Itapema, Itajaí, Balneário Camboriú;
  • Rio Grande do Sul: Porto Alegre, Torres, Aparados da Serra National Park, Serra Gaúcha, Canela, Gramado, Paleorrota;
• Center-West Region:
  • Federal District: Brasília;
  • Goiás: Goiânia, Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, Pirenópolis, Goiás Velho, Caldas Novas, Emas National Park, Araguaia River;
  • Mato Grosso: Cuiabá, The Pantanal, Chapada dos Guimarães National Park, Tangará da Serra, Barra do Garças, Alta Floresta, Cáceres, Barão de Melgaço, Poconé;
  • Mato Grosso do Sul: Campo Grande, Corumbá, Bonito, Ponta Porã, Aquidauana, Coxim, Jardim.
• Northeast Region:
  • Bahia: Salvador, Cachoeira, Lençóis, Morro de São Paulo, Ilhéus, Itacaré, Porto Seguro, Arraial d'Ajuda, Trancoso, Chapada Diamantina National Park, Abrolhos Marine National Park;
  • Pernambuco: Recife, Olinda, Itamaracá, Igarassu, Caruaru, Porto de Galinhas, New Jerusalem, Garanhuns, Triunfo, Fernando de Noronha, Catimbau Valley, Petrolina;
  • Ceará: Fortaleza, Aracati, Canoa Quebrada, Jericoacoara, Tatajuba, Camocim, Sobral, Baturité, Ubajara National Park, Juazeiro do Norte;
  • Sergipe: Aracaju, Laranjeiras, São Cristóvão, Estância, Propriá;
  • Alagoas: Maceió, Maragogi, Penedo, Barra de São Miguel, Paripueira, Porto de Pedras;
  • Paraíba: João Pessoa, Campina Grande, Cabedelo, Ingá, Baía da Traição, Sousa;
  • Rio Grande do Norte: Natal, Mossoró, Tibau do Sul, Tibau, Parnamirim, Touros, São Miguel do Gostoso, Galinhos, Caicó, Macau, Martins, Maxaranguape, Cape São Roque;
  • Piauí: Teresina, Sete Cidades National Park, Parnaíba, Serra da Capivara National Park;
  • Maranhão: São Luís, Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, Alcântara, Imperatriz, Carolina.
• North Region:
  • Amazonas: Manaus, Parintins, Tefé, Mamirauá;
  • Pará: Belém, Marajó Island, Santarém;
  • Tocantins: Palmas, Ilha do Bananal, Natividade;
  • Amapá: Macapá, Oiapoque;
  • Roraima: Boa Vista, Monte Roraima;
  • Rondônia: Porto Velho, Guajará-Mirim, Guaporé Valley;
  • Acre: Rio Branco, Xapuri, Brasiléia, Assis Brasil.

• 
  Ilha das Couves in Ubatuba, São Paulo
• 
  Historic town of Iguape, São Paulo
• 
  Beto Carrero World, in Santa Catarina
• 
  Gramado, in Rio Grande do Sul, is one of the most sought after for domestic tourism in Brazil.
• 
  Armação dos Búzios in Rio de Janeiro State
• 
  Bonito in Mato Grosso do Sul
• 
  Hiking in Serra do Rio do Rastro, Santa Catarina
• 
  Swiss village in Campos do Jordão, São Paulo State
• 
  Bombinhas, Santa Catarina
• 
  Paraty in Rio de Janeiro State
• 
  Vineyards valley in Rio Grande do Sul
• 
  Oktoberfest of Blumenau
• 
  Mel Island in Paraná
• 
  The Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida is the second largest Catholic church in the world in interior area after the St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City.
• 
  Guarapari, Espírito Santo
• 
  The colonial city of Ouro Preto, a World Heritage Site, is one of the most popular destinations in Minas Gerais.
• 
  Balneário Camboriú

• Visa policy of Brazil
• Ministry of Tourism (Brazil)
• Tourism in the city of São Paulo
• Seven Wonders of Brazil

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Brazil.

• Brazilian Tourism Portal by Embratur (Brazilian Tourist Board)
• New York Times Travel Guides: Brazil