São Paulo – In 2009, Brazil registered growth of 0.15% in the number of international arrivals on regular flights when compared to the previous year.
According to figures supplied by the Brazilian Airport Infrastructure Company (Infraero), however, in the total arrivals on regular and chartered flights, there was a reduction of 0.77% in the volume of people arriving in Brazil. According to the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), the global reduction was 4%.
“The greater number of international arrivals on regular flights shows that the aerial access to Brazil has been rising consistently, but the speed is below that necessary to increase the international competitiveness of Brazilian tourism,” said Jeanine Pires, president of the Brazilian Tourism Institute (Embratur) in a press statement.
International arrivals started showing signs of recovery late last year. In December, there were 577,283 international arrivals (regular and chartered flights), growth of 3.84% over the same month in 2008.
"Despite the difficult scenery in global aviation, with much reduction in the offer of seats, Brazil managed to remain practically stable in 2009, with great improvement in the performance starting in October last year and maintaining this performance in early 2010,” said Pires, from Embratur.
The Infraero figures include arrivals of Brazilians as well as resident and non-resident foreigners.
*Translated by Mark Ament
