Yes we know the Carnival celebration in Rio, Brazil has been around for over 350 years but people still see it as something new each year to be a part of and 2011 was no different.
It is estimated that nearly 1,000,000 tourists attended the annual celebration. This attendance figure is up almost by 250,000 or a 33% increase. Most of those in attendance were international tourists versus native Brazilians who tend to stay home to celebrate at local festivals.
Brazilian tourism was hurt like all other international tourism in 2009 from the global economic recession but has quickly rebounded.
Another cause for the increase in Carnival tourism are the street blocos parties that are free and some say more fun than the formal Carnival celebrations. The street blocos tend to attract more locals and many tourists like celebrating with locals – this year there were over 400 of these free block parties.
The strong attendance figures for Carnival will allow Brazil to maintain its status as the number two most popular travel destination in Latin America.
