Spring must move R $ 8.4 billion with tourism in Rio

Spring should help consolidate 2026 as another year of strong tourist activity in Rio. After the expressive results recorded during the winter, a period traditionally associated with the low season, the city begins one of the busiest times of its calendar, marked by a wide schedule of cultural, sporting and gastronomic events.

Between 22 September and 21 December, Prefeitura do Rio estimates that tourism should move approximately R$ 8.4 billion in the carioca economy, according to calculations of the City Hall - through the Riotur together with the municipal departments of economic development (SMDE) and tourism (SMTUR-Rio).

The estimate considers as reference the tourist flow recorded in the spring of 2025. According to data from the Observatory of Tourism Carioca, SMTUR-Rio, 3,24 million tourists They visited the city during the season last year. Of this total, 71.8% (2.7 million) were national visitors and 28.2% (509.9 thousand) were international visitors.

To estimate the economic movement associated with this flow of visitors, the average spending values identified by the study were used “Panorama Tourist – Domestic and international tourism 2025” developed by the Fecommerce Institute for Research and Analysis (IFec RJ). In the case of Brazilian tourists, the average expenditure considered was R$ 2,206 per visitor, with the value of the updated study for August 2026 prices, deflated by IPCA. For international tourists, it was considered an average expenditure equivalent to R$ 4,647 per visitor, calculated from the value in dollars identified in the research period and converted by the exchange rate of August 2026.

Spending includes expenses on accommodation, restaurants and bars, food and drinks purchased outside these establishments, fuels, transportation, leisure and tourist attractions, telecommunications and various purchases. Thus, the estimate seeks to capture the direct effects of visitor consumption on different segments of the Rio economy.

Prefeitura do Rio, through SMDE, maintains a Technical Cooperation Agreement with IFec RJ for the development of economic studies, including research focused specifically on the tourism sector.

In addition to the flow of visitors, the Rio spring will be marked by an intense agenda of events, reinforcing the strategy of keeping the city busy throughout the year. The combination of major events, cultural offer, gastronomy, beaches and other tourist attractions contributes to distribute the economic benefits of tourism across different sectors and regions of the city.