Brazil hopes to attract 30% more foreign tourists by 2016

The Ministry for Tourism hopes to have a 30% increase in the number of foreign tourists that visit Brazil by 2016, the year when the Summer Olympic Games shall be held in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The statement was made today (18 February) by the Minister for this area, Pedro Novais, on a visit to the city of Petrópolis, in the mountain region of Rio de Janeiro State. Currently, some 5 million tourists visit Brazil every year.

Mr. Novais has also said that the Federal Government hopes to solve the problems and bottlenecks affecting the main Brazilian airports by 2014. “We need airports to boost tourism. I know there are problems, but from what has been mentioned in the Government and from what I have heard from the Brazilian President [Dilma Rousseff], it is in our interest that, before the 2014 FIFA World Cup™, we have this issue solved”, he said.