Brazil’s IBGE’s Tourism Activities Index advances 18.2% in May

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In May 2021, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) tourism activities index grew 18.2% compared to April. Despite the improvement, the tourism segment still has to grow 53.1% to return to the February 2020 level.

This was the second consecutive positive rate of the gauge, which accumulated a 23.3% gain in April and May. The recent advance recovers a good part of the 26.5% drop observed in March, a month in which the pandemic was on the rise and, therefore, imposed more limitations on the operation of establishments considered non-essential.

Regionally, all 12 states surveyed followed the national expansion movement. The most significant positive contribution was São Paulo – considering its population, which is larger than in other states -, where the index advanced 30.3%, followed by Rio de Janeiro (18.5%), Bahia (52.6%), Minas Gerais (34.3%), Rio Grande do Sul (46.9%), and Distrito Federal (49.3%).

Compared to May 2020, the volume index of tourism activities in Brazil advanced 102.2%, after also having advanced 72.5% in April, in the annual comparison, when it interrupted 13 consecutive negative rates. According to IBGE, the indicator was driven mainly by increased revenue from companies in air and road transport of passengers, restaurants, hotels, car rentals, and catering services.

In the year to date, the special aggregate of tourist activities fell 5.5% compared to the same period in 2020, pressured mainly by reductions in revenue from travel agencies, restaurants, hotels, and collective air and road transport of passengers.