Market – Brazil

ST Brazil is composed of two other team members, with whom we cover the whole spectrum of impactful marketing.

Campaigning and Activation, Media

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	Natalia Leal, Marketing Manager Brazil	
Contact LinkedIn	+55 11 98967-3883 natalia.leal@switzerland.com www.linkedin.com/in/natália-leal-35912443

Trade

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	Mara Pessoa, Trade Manager Brazil
Contact LinkedIn	+55 11 93039-1110 mara.pessoa@switzerland.com www.linkedin.com/in/mara-pessoa

• ST market research page –– Access here
• ST Research Report Brazil 2025 –– Access here
• ST TMS 2023 –– Access here
• PANROTAS Brazil Overview 2024-2025 — Access here
• ST Monthly Market Activities — Access here

General Market Situation Brazil

Brazil enters 2025 and 2026 with moderate but positive economic growth and a still‑challenging macro environment.

• Growth: After a strong 2024 (around 3–3.5% GDP growth), most forecasts point to slower but still positive growth of around 2% in 2025, with government projections slightly higher, close to 2.6%. [Agência Brasil, 2024; BBVA Research, 2024; Valor Econômico, 2024]
• Inflation & interest rates: Inflation remains a concern, with projections close to or slightly above the official target, which keeps interest rates at relatively high levels. The Selic is expected to stay elevated, even if there is some room for gradual cuts depending on inflation dynamics. [Agência Brasil, 2025; Mercopress, 2024; Trading Economics, 2025]
• Currency: The Brazilian real is likely to remain under pressure and volatile, reflecting global risk sentiment, domestic fiscal debates and dollar flows. This continues to impact the affordability of international travel. [Valor Internacional, 2024; Brasil de Fato, 2025]
• Domestic drivers: Services and industry remain important growth engines, while agribusiness and infrastructure continue to attract foreign investment. Recent trade agreements and improved market access (e.g. in agribusiness) support export performance and income in key regions. [IBGE, 2024; Gov.br, 2025; Moody’s Analytics, 2025]

For tourism, this translates into a mixed but overall favourable picture:

• The upper‑middle class and affluent segments remain active travellers, even in a context of high interest rates and currency volatility.
• Periods of exchange‑rate stress can temporarily affect demand, but Brazilians have shown a high resilience and strong appetite for international travel, especially to trusted, safe and high‑quality destinations such as Switzerland.

Brazil’s economy in late 2024 and into 2025 combines solid recent growth with rising inflation concerns and a more cautious outlook ahead.

• Strong 2024, slower 2025:
  • 2024 clearly outperformed expectations, with GDP growing well above the ~1.5–1.6% many economists had initially forecast. Consumer spending and investment were key drivers.
  • For 2025, most analysts expect slower, but still positive growth, as the effect of tighter monetary policy and weaker credit expansion begins to be felt.
  • The labour market remains relatively strong, with unemployment at its lowest levels since mid‑2010s and real wages improving.
    (Deloitte, Nov 2024; Valor Econômico, Dec 2024; OECD, Sept 2024)
• Inflation and interest rates:
  • Headline inflation moved higher again in the second half of 2024 and is hovering above the Central Bank’s target range, driven by strong domestic demand, higher wages and volatile food prices.
  • After a cycle of rate cuts from 13.75% (mid‑2023) to 10.5% (mid‑2024), the Central Bank has signalled a more restrictive stance, including a rate hike in September 2024, and markets now expect policy rates to stay relatively high in 2025.
    (Deloitte, Nov 2024; Reuters, Feb 2025; Trading Economics, 2025)
• Fiscal and credit conditions:
  • The federal government is working under a tight fiscal framework, with efforts to reduce the primary deficit and keep debt dynamics under control.
  • Despite these constraints, Brazil’s sovereign rating was upgraded by Moody’s to Ba1 in 2024, one notch below investment grade, reflecting better macro stability and reform progress.
  • A strong expansion in credit supported activity in 2024, but economists expect this credit impulse to fade in 2025, which is one reason for the more modest growth outlook.
    (Deloitte, Nov 2024; Valor Econômico, Dec 2024; Moody’s Analytics, 2025)
• International role and tourism relevance:
  • Brazil assumed the BRICS presidency in 2025, with a focus on South‑South cooperation and global governance reforms, reinforcing its role as a key emerging economy.
  • Tourism remains an important driver of domestic activity: Brazilian travellers were expected to inject over BRL 148 billion into the economy in the 2024/25 summer season alone, with a significant increase in average spending year‑on‑year.
    (Gov.br, Jan 2025; Agência Brasil, Dec 2024)

For outbound tourism, this means a resilient but more selective demand environment:
affluent and upper‑middle‑class Brazilians continue to travel internationally and spend, but are increasingly attentive to exchange‑rate movements, financing conditions and perceived value for money.

Brazil’s travel industry remains very active and competitive, with strong domestic demand, a solid rebound in international travel, and some persistent structural bottlenecks, especially in air capacity and visa processes.

1. Domestic travel remains very strong

• Domestic tourism continues to be “in fashion”, with Brazilians travelling intensively within the country, especially during summer and long weekends.
• However, air capacity has not expanded significantly: airlines still face delays in aircraft deliveries and operational constraints, so the supply of seats is only slightly higher than in previous seasons.
• This reinforces the importance of regional and road travel inside Brazil and increases pressure on prices for flights, including international ones.

2. International travel is growing, with Europe well positioned

• Outbound travel is clearly recovering, but seat capacity to many destinations is still below 2019 levels, which keeps prices high and planning more complex.
• Europe remains highly competitive for Brazilians in terms of flight offer and relative pricing when compared with some North American routes. This benefits Switzerland, especially when combined with multi‑country itineraries.
• The United States still attracts a very large volume of Brazilians, but total visitors remain below 2019 peaks, partly due to visa and capacity issues. Other destinations, including European countries, have captured a share of this demand.

3. Structural factors shaping outbound demand

• Millions of Brazilians hold a valid US visa, and hundreds of thousands more apply every year, but wait times for first‑time visas can still be long, which pushes part of the demand towards visa‑free or easier‑access destinations, especially in Europe.
• Airlines continue to adjust their networks:
  • US carriers increase seasonal capacity on Brazil–US routes in peak periods.
  • European and Middle Eastern airlines gradually restore or grow capacity, often via their hubs, offering multiple one‑stop options to Switzerland.
• Large international attractions and theme parks (e.g. in Florida) have broadly returned to pre‑pandemic attendance levels, with Brazil among their top source markets, but there is a visible diversification of interest towards city breaks, nature and culture trips in Europe.

4. Implications for Switzerland and partners
For Switzerland, this environment means:

• Competition for the Brazilian traveller is intense, but there is clear room to win share thanks to:
  • Switzerland’s image as a safe, high‑quality, “trust” destination,
  • good connectivity via European hubs,
  • and strong interest in nature, mountains and year‑round experiences.
• Working closely with key tour operators, consortia and specialist agencies remains essential to secure space in packages and to navigate air capacity and pricing constraints.
• Well‑designed multi‑destination itineraries (Switzerland + other European countries) and value‑rich products (rail passes, scenic trains, city‑plus‑mountain combinations) are particularly attractive in this context.

Overall, Brazil’s travel industry offers a favourable but highly competitive environment: demand is there, but it needs to be actively guided, supported and converted through the right partners and products.

Recent studies from Google and other sources show that Brazilian travel behavior has changed significantly between 2019 and 2023, with important implications for international destinations such as Switzerland.

1. More “terrestrial” travel domestically, but strong aspiration abroad

• Within Brazil, there has been a sharp shift towards shorter, land‑based trips:
  • Searches for routes of up to 250 km increased by +156% from 2019 to 2023.
  • Searches for longer routes of up to 3,500 km fell by −77% in the same period.
• This means domestic tourism has become much more regional and car‑based, while long‑haul international trips tend to be more planned, less frequent, and more “aspirational” purchases.

2. Accommodation moves to the center of the decision

• In 2019, accommodation represented about 35% of Brazilian consumers’ travel interest; today it is around 50%.
• Searches for hotels grew +99% between 2019 and 2023, while searches for airlines grew only +1%, returning to roughly the same level as 2019.
• For Switzerland, this reinforces the need for clear positioning of hotels, experiences and value propositions, not only flights and itineraries.

3. The traveller’s journey is fully digital

• The discovery and planning journey is predominantly digital:
  • Google Search and YouTube are leading platforms in inspiration and research.
  • Brazilians spend on average more than 5 hours per day in apps, one of the highest figures globally.
• For Switzerland, this means that visibility in search, video and key apps is critical across the full funnel: inspiration, comparison, booking and sharing.

4. Black Friday as a structural opportunity

• 71% of Brazilian consumers say they would like to buy trips on Black Friday, but 49% have never done so yet. There is clear unmet potential.
• When Brazilians think about buying travel on Black Friday, their main interests are:
  1. Accommodation – 60%
  2. Package deals – 59%
  3. Flight tickets – 53%
  4. Sightseeing tours – 41%
  5. Tickets for tourist attractions – 26%
  6. Car rental – 25%
  7. Bus tickets – 17%
  8. Cruises – 16%
• Offers for trips of 4 to 10 days perform particularly well, while stays above 10 days work best when they are personalised and targeted to the high‑end segment.

5. Underlying optimism and “consumption desire”

• Despite economic volatility, many Brazilians remain optimistic about their personal finances.
• Around half of consumers believe the national economy and their own situation will improve, which sustains a strong desire to consume and travel, especially among the middle‑ and upper‑income groups.

Brand and destination searches (context)

• In generic travel searches on Google, airlines still dominate brand awareness (Gol, LATAM, Google Flights, Azul, etc.).
• Among generic terms, “beach” is the most searched travel concept.
• Domestically, Rio de Janeiro remains a top searched destination; internationally, Orlando leads, with other Caribbean and sun destinations (such as Curaçao) gaining attention.

For Switzerland, this means that to stand out in this environment, we must:

• Work closely with distribution partners who already have the traveller’s trust.
• Give accommodation and experiences a central place in our storytelling.
• Use digital and video platforms strategically along the entire journey.
• Leverage key commercial moments (such as Black Friday) with well‑designed, time‑bound offers that match Brazilian booking behavior.

The Brazil market focuses primarily on the personas Quinn and Kris. Find more information about the personas here.