World Cup 2014: tourists expected to spend £3bn in Brazil
World Cup tourist spending in Brazil is expected to exceed $3 billion, according to the Brazilian Government's latest forecasts.
The Ministry of Tourism revealed research suggesting that foreign tourists are expected to spend $2,500 each, excluding airfares, during their stay in Brazil in June and July.
According to Inside World Football, the government is hoping to convince ordinary Brazilians that staging sport mega-events is a good investment for the country.
An estimated 3.7 million people are expected to holiday in Brazil during the World Cup, including Brazilian and foreign tourists.
"The tourism spending being forecast based on the surveys conducted by Brazil's Ministry of Tourism do not include the indirect and induced financial transactions resulting from these visitors," said tourism minister Vinicius Lages.
"In other words, the total financial turnover for tourism during the 2014 FIFA World Cup may be more than double the anticipated figure if we consider the multiplier effect of these resources in the Brazilian economy."
The Ministry anticipates that 300,000 foreign tourists will come to Brazil specifically for the World Cup and that they will be responsible for the biggest spend.
"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," said Lages.
However, the expected $3 billion amounts to little more than 0.1 per cent 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, reports Inside World Football.
The World Cup projections take into consideration the average spending of tourists at last year's FIFA Confederations Cup, and the proportion of people staying with relatives and friends during the World Cup.
The base for the projections is a survey conducted by Brazil's Ministry of Tourism in partnership with the Economic Research Institute Foundation (FIPE).
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