Brazil’s international tourism rebound picked up further speed in May, and the numbers finally surpassed every previous result for the month. Data released on 27 June 2026 by Embratur, the Ministry of Tourism and the Federal Police show that 486,262 foreign visitors entered the country in May—5.4 % more than in May 2025 and the best May total ever recorded. The cumulative picture is equally strong: from January-May 2026, 4.81 million travellers landed in Brazil, only 1.4 % below the all-time high posted last year, even though average length of stay and daily spend rose. Air arrivals grew 14.9 %, reflecting additional long-haul capacity put in place since the government re-introduced the e-visa for US, Canadian and Australian nationals in April and announced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens in May.
![Brazil posts record May with 486,000 foreign tourist arrivals]()
Travellers looking to navigate Brazil’s evolving entry requirements can save time and avoid surprises by using VisaHQ, a specialised online visa service that offers step-by-step assistance with Brazil’s e-visas and other travel documents; see https://www.visahq.com/brazil/ for details on eligibility, fees and processing times.
Argentina remained the largest source market (1.9 million), followed by the United States (338,000) and Paraguay (284,000). Strong double-digit growth came from Europe (+17 %), Asia (+15 %) and neighbouring South America (+16 %). Smaller markets such as Australia, Canada and Chile all set new records, while China and Colombia were the fastest-growing. On the domestic side, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro handled roughly 1.2 million foreign visitors each in the five-month period. Smaller gateways such as Rio Grande do Norte (+151 %) and Pernambuco (+104 %) benefited from new charter programmes and low-cost carrier services aimed at European leisure travellers and Brazilian expatriates visiting relatives. For companies managing business-traveller flows or project assignments into Brazil, the figures confirm that demand for hotels, flights and short-term accommodation is tightening again. Organisations should book early for the July–September high season and monitor availability in São Paulo and Rio, where trade-fair calendars and World Cup qualifiers will create additional spikes.
Travellers looking to navigate Brazil’s evolving entry requirements can save time and avoid surprises by using VisaHQ, a specialised online visa service that offers step-by-step assistance with Brazil’s e-visas and other travel documents; see https://www.visahq.com/brazil/ for details on eligibility, fees and processing times.
Argentina remained the largest source market (1.9 million), followed by the United States (338,000) and Paraguay (284,000). Strong double-digit growth came from Europe (+17 %), Asia (+15 %) and neighbouring South America (+16 %). Smaller markets such as Australia, Canada and Chile all set new records, while China and Colombia were the fastest-growing. On the domestic side, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro handled roughly 1.2 million foreign visitors each in the five-month period. Smaller gateways such as Rio Grande do Norte (+151 %) and Pernambuco (+104 %) benefited from new charter programmes and low-cost carrier services aimed at European leisure travellers and Brazilian expatriates visiting relatives. For companies managing business-traveller flows or project assignments into Brazil, the figures confirm that demand for hotels, flights and short-term accommodation is tightening again. Organisations should book early for the July–September high season and monitor availability in São Paulo and Rio, where trade-fair calendars and World Cup qualifiers will create additional spikes.
