By David Owen
May 13 – World Cup tourist spending in Brazil in June and July may exceed $3 billion, the Brazilian Government has forecast. In the latest of a series of announcements that appear designed, in part, to convince ordinary Brazilians that staging sports mega-events is a good investment for South America’s biggest country, the Ministry of Tourism unveiled research findings suggesting that foreign tourists would spend nearly $2,500 each, excluding airfares, during their stay.
The number of Brazilian and foreign tourists expected to travel to World Cup locations for matches and FIFA Fan Fests was estimated at 1.9 million, with expected direct spending put at $1.83 billion. A further 1.8 million visitors are expected to be in Brazil for festivities linked to the World Cup. These individuals are expected to spend a further $1.19 billion.
Tourism Minister Vinicius Lages argued, moreover, that total financial turnover for tourism during the World Cup might be more than double the anticipated figure, “if we consider the multiplier effect of these resources in the Brazilian economy”.
He went on: “Tourists who come to the matches are the visitors who spend the most. This is an important audience, and we want to win them over during the World Cup.”
The Ministry anticipates that 300,000 foreign tourists will come to Brazil specifically for the World Cup.
While the $3 billion total makes an eye-catching headline, however, it amounts to little more than 0.1% of the country’s annual gross domestic product (GDP), based on the 2012 figure of well over $2,400 billion. Since it includes spending by Brazilians, most of whom would have spent some money in Brazil whether or not the World Cup was on, one also wonders whether it is all incremental.
The projections are said to take into consideration the average spending of tourists at last year’s Confederations Cup test event, which was marred by street demonstrations, and the proportion of people intending to stay with relatives and friends during the World Cup.
The base for projections was a survey conducted by the Tourism Ministry in partnership with the Economic Research Institute Foundation (FIPE).
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