The Brazilian Ministry of Tourism confirmed this week that approximately 719,000 visitors descended on Rio for the city’s annual Carnival celebrations. According to the Brazilian Association of Hotels (ABIH), hotel records were broken with 90% occupancy, up from last year’s 86%. Riotur, the city’s official tourism agency, also conducted a survey during this year’s annual festivities which included samba school parades and hundreds of street parties across the city, all of which were held safely for the millions of participants. The agency’s survey is intended to measure the overall quality of visitors’ stay in Rio during one of the city’s biggest events.

Of the approximately 1200 visitors interviewed between February 21 and 23, 98% of them reported that their visit to Rio exceeded or met their expectations. Generally speaking, the results of the 2009 survey highlight a positive assessment among interviewees with regards to urban transport services and tourist information in Rio.

Indeed, international visitors gave an average rating of 8.5 (out of 10) to public transport services in Rio and 8.4 (out of 10) to tourist information services, both ranking higher than the 2008 results whereby these services were rated 8.0 and 7.8 respectively. Another notable improvement was seen in improved results regarding safety in Rio whereby visitors generally appeared to feel safer during this year’s events with ratings for the city’s security services, rising to 7.7 (out of 10) from 7.2 in 2008.

Carlos Nuzman, President of the Rio 2016 Bid Committee said: “We welcome the results of Riotur’s 2009 survey as a clear sign of our city’s ability to host large-scale events safely and draw significant amounts of international visitors to experience the greatest Carnival in the world. All levels of government in Brazil are committed to further developing Rio’s infrastructure to enable us to continue to deliver unforgettable events and seek to host some of the world’s greatest events such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

A number of visitors were interviewed at the Sambódromo, host location of the samba school parades during Carnival and one of the planned venues for Rio’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Other visitors were also interviewed at the Terreirão do Samba, a popular show venue close to the Sambódromo.

More information:
Rio 2016 Press Office
Saint-Clair Milesi (saint clair.milesi@rio2016.org.br)
Márcia Penna Firme (marcia.penna@rio2016.org.br)
Tel +55 (21) 3433 5827
www.rio2016.org.br