Tourism in Paraná grows 13.7% in the first quarter

The tourism sector in Paraná grew 13.7% in the first four months of this year, compared to the same period in 2022. This is the second largest advance in the country, behind only Minas Gerais (20.4%). The number surpassed the national result of 8.4%. The data are from the Monthly Service Survey (PMS), released this Thursday (15) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

In April, Paraná registered a growth of 3.6% compared to the same month in 2022. While in the national average the increase was only 1.4% compared to the same month in the previous year.

In addition to Paraná, other states also presented growth in the tourism sector in the same month, such as São Paulo (3.6%), Minas Gerais (10.1%), Rio Grande do Sul (1.1%) and Ceará (0.1%). two%). According to the IBGE, this increase was driven by the segments of car rental, restaurants, hotels, travel agencies, collective road passenger transport and catering services.

In the accumulated variation in the last 12 months, Paraná registered a growth of 19.9%, the best performance in the South region. Rio Grande do Sul had 18.6% and Santa Catarina 19.8%.

According to economist César Bergo, Paraná is the fourth state with the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the country and has the sixth highest per capita income. Therefore, industry and commerce are strong, especially in the tourism segment.

Economist César Bergo highlights the interesting features for tourism in Paraná. “It has a natural aspect like the Iguaçu Falls and other tourist attractions, also in terms of geology, which attracts a lot of tourism. But what stands out in the state is the hotel infrastructure, service structure, the big cities in Paraná, led by Curitiba, which is really the national icon in urban terms.”

The Iguaçu Falls set a visitation record in April, receiving approximately 150,000 tourists. In addition, the conservation units in the state of Paraná had a significant increase in visits, almost doubling between January and April, compared to the same months of the previous year, totaling more than 209 thousand visitors in this period.

For the economist, the important thing is that there was, in fact, a development of the entire hotel service and restaurants, which provide an interesting basis for tourism. “Curitiba’s airport, Afonso Pena, is a national highlight that has been increasing international flights”, he adds.

According to Bergo, Paraná shows great prospects for future growth, not only in the economic sector, but also in tourism.