Tourism industry in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro lost about R $ 320 million (about US$ 100 million) in revenue in the first four months of this year due to crime and violence. These are the findings of a study released recently by the National Confederation of Commerce of Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC) focusing on tourism in Rio.
According to CNC estimates, for each 10% of the crime rate increase, the gross revenue of the companies that make up the state's tourism sector falls by an average of 1.8%. This loss is equivalent to the 4.5-day billing of local tourism businesses. Tourism in Rio is an important contributor to the state budget.
Among the businesses that lost the most are bars and restaurants (R $ 167.2 million), transportation, travel agencies and car rental companies (R $ 105.5 million). The hotels, and other accommodation facilities lost R $ 47.8 million and cultural and leisure services, R $ 7.2 million.
According to the CNC, another R $ 390 million (about US$ 121 million) was lost due to unemployment, increased expenses of Brazilians traveling abroad, credit shortages and a high comparative base with revenue generated by the 2016 Olympic Games.
The fall in revenues of the tourism in Rio for the first four months, from January to April, compared to the same period in 2016 reached -7.9%, or R $ 768.5 million (about US$ 240 million) in total.