Iguazu Falls - Brazil

Brazil (Portuguese: Brasil), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil) is the largest country in South America and the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas. It is both the world's fifth largest country by geographical area and by population.

Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of over 7,491 kilometers (4,655 mi). It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and the French overseas department of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos are part of the Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz.

Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until its independence in 1822. Initially independent as the Brazilian Empire, the country has been a republic since 1889, although the bicameral legislature, now called Congress, dates back to 1824, when the first constitution was ratified. Its current Constitution defines Brazil as a Federal Republic. The Federation is formed by the union of the Federal District, the 26 States, and the 5,564 Municipalities.

Brazil is the world's eighth largest economy by nominal GDP and the ninth largest by purchasing power parity. Economic reforms have given the country new international recognition. Brazil is a founding member of the United Nations, the G20, Mercosul and the Union of South American Nations, and is one of the BRIC Countries. Brazil is also home to a diversity of wildlife, natural environments, and extensive natural resources in a variety of protected habitats.

Source: Wikipedia/EN                    

Brazil is Latin America’s fastest growing Travel & Tourism economy, with Travel & Tourism’s direct contribution to GDP; it is forecast to grow at 7.8% in 2012.

Research released by David Scowsill, President & CEO, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) at Fórum Panrotas, forecasts that the Brazilian Travel & Tourism economy which contributed US$79 billion to GDP in 2011 is due to increase by 7.8% this year. This is significantly ahead of other countries in the region such as Chile and Colombia (both with growth of 4.7%) and Argentina and Peru at 3.7% and 3.6% respectively.

When the wider indirect and induced impacts are taken into account, the industry’s contribution is nearly three times greater – approximately US$213 billion. This is equivalent to 8.6% of Brazil’s total GDP.If the growth in Brazil is achieved, it will bring an extra US$5.5 billion for the Brazilian GDP directly from Travel & Tourism and 200,000 new direct jobs in 2012.

Around 7.7 million jobs in Brazil are supported by Travel & Tourism and its wider impacts. That is nearly 8% of all employment in the country. And while international tourism is doing well – visitor exports reached US$7billion in 2011 – domestic business is really driving growth.  Domestic tourism spend grew by 6.5% in 2011 to US$130 billion. 

David Scowsill, President & CEO of WTTC, said: “Brazil’s Travel & Tourism industry is set for a great few years and I’m certain that Brazil agreeing to a number of open skies agreements have contributed to the positive growth figures. However, Brazil has a few hurdles to overcome with two major sport events coming up. In order for these events to be successful, present inadequate infrastructure must be improved. Airports currently operate at overcapacity; an inadequate port infrastructure and the lack of hotel rooms in major cities represent the main concerns for Brazil’s Travel & Tourism industry in the long run-up to the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. Although, the government has already started some construction work, they will need to make sure they adhere to deadlines and timetables.”

WTTC’s research also shows that prospects for the Latin American region in 2012 are very respectable. Latin America will be one of the fastest growing regions in 2012 in terms of Travel & Tourism’s contribution to GDP – at 6.5%, behind only South Asia and Northeast Asia at 6.7%. 

Driving this growth is a 5.2% increase in capital investment in Travel & Tourism – the highest growth outside Asia – and 6.1% growth in visitor exports.However, the region will have to work hard to maintain this level of growth in the long term as current forecasts show that the regions 10-year prospects are well behind other regions with Travel & Tourism’s contribution to GDP forecast to grow by 4.5%.

Source - WTTC

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