In Rio de Janeiro, Carnival returns in full force; Record tourism expected

By Sergio Queiroz

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Rio de Janeiro’s famously colorful Carnival celebrations will return in full force this month and is expected to generate nearly $1 billion in business, an all-time high following the pandemic-related restrictions of the past few years.

The streets of Brazil’s second largest city will once again play host to the free and wild hedonistic parties known as blocos, while traditional samba schools will parade through the city’s Marques de Sapucai Sambadrome.

With the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic seemingly behind us, authorities expect the annual celebration to break records in the tourism and service sectors and erase some of the losses of previous years.

“We believe the economy will generate five billion reais ($971.55 million) during Carnival alone, a record,” Rio Tourism Company (Riotur) President Ronnie Aguiar told Reuters. “We are very ready here to welcome anyone who comes from all over the world.”

Around 80,000 tourists from abroad are expected to travel to Rio for the carnival, according to the International Association of Air Transport, up from 55,000 in 2020 before the pandemic hit Brazil.

Countless hours of preparation go into planning Brazil’s biggest annual celebration.

“The volume of work is always very large. It’s a rush to be able to deliver everything on time, but we hope it will be worth it and it will be very nice,” said Alessandra Araujo Rodrigues, member of the Unidos do Viradouro Samba School.

Over 150 Carnival street blocks are expected to take over Rio’s streets during the week of February 18-21, although the celebrations will continue throughout the month.

($1 = 5.1464 reais)

(Additional Reporting by Fernando Cardoso; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Anthony Esposito and Leslie Adler)

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