Event Focus: Carnival Season’s Effect on Flight Searches to Brazil
Following the recovery of international air travel post-COVID-19, one of the key drivers of international travel is event tourism, with travellers planning trips around major cultural or sporting events. For destination marketing organisations, understanding the travel patterns related to events in their destination, from changes in search volume to peaks in arrivals, to key origin markets, is mission critical.
In our third article in this four-part series on travel to Brazil, we show how ForwardKeys data can provide these crucial insights — examining how demand for international travel to Brazil during Q1 2024 is affected by the country’s carnival season — attracting visitors from across the globe to experience this unique celebration of Brazilian culture first-hand.
American Markets Drive Demand for Travel to Brazil​
A key indicator of future travel demand is the volume of web searches made for flights to a particular destination — and ForwardKeys makes this data easily accessible to DMOs and related organisations, aggregating and refining data from a comprehensive range of search data providers to provide a clear and accurate picture of travel intent.
Analysing flight search data for flights to Brazil departing during Q1 2024 reveals significant changes over the same period in 2023, with exceptional growth in searches from the U.S.A. (+87%), Colombia (+82%) and France (+62%) and increased interest from other European markets such as the U.K. (+48%) and Italy (+39%) as well as regional markets Chile (+45%) and Argentina (+42%) indicating renewed interest in Brazil for both long-haul and short-haul travel.
This growth is at least partly attributable to an increase in traveller interest in attending Brazil’s many carnivals, which traditionally take place between February and early March. A more granular interrogation of the data supports this, with growth in travel intent for February outstripping the average for Q1 in the top origin markets by share of searches: +105% versus +87% for the U.S.A. and +29% versus +24% for Portugal.
Carnival Sparks Surge in Demand​ to Major Cities
Drilling down to analyse demand at the city level reveals a clear peak in flight searches for both Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo which aligns precisely with the beginning of each city’s carnival period, as the majority of visitors look to arrive in their chosen destination just as the celebrations get started. Demand for travel to Rio de Janeiro peaks at around 5 million searches compared to just over 3 million for its neighbour to the south, reflecting its lead over Sao Paulo as an international “brand”.
A secondary peak occurring 3 to 4 days before the first day of the carnivals is also apparent in search data for flights into both destination cities — perhaps indicating the most popular arrival date for those travellers planning longer stays around the carnivals, as opposed to short-stay visitors who are more likely to arrive as the festivities begin, maximising the value of their trip.
“Carnival Fever” Captivates European Markets​
Flight searches originating in the U.S.A. favour Brazil’s largest cities, with American travellers responsible for a 19% share of searches for Sao Paulo and 16% of those for Rio de Janeiro, reflecting greater awareness of these destinations outside Brazil. The picture is different in South America, which captures the largest share of searches for Florianopolis — its southern location makes it easily reachable from neighbouring Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, as well as relatively accessible from Chile and Bolivia.
European source markets, however, are responsible for the largest share of flight searches to Rio de Janeiro (55%), Sao Paulo (53%) and especially Salvador (67%), perhaps attributable to a combination of event tourism with vacation and VFR travel, the latter being of particular importance to Portugal.
Granular Data Helps DMOs Maximise Destination Potential
Access to granular, segmentable data that allows DMOs to build an accurate picture of the volume of travellers attracted by in-destination or locally hosted events is key to their success. It allows destinations to maximise the benefits this influx of tourists can bring — optimising local transport, services and accommodation and promoting complementary activities and experiences to visitors staying in the area before and after an event takes place.
However, in destination management, international travel is only part of the story. Our final article in this series will look at domestic travel within Brazil, exploring travel trends between the country’s regions in Q1 2024 and how traveller behaviour has changed compared to the previous year. Keep an eye on our blog and socials to learn more.
ForwardKeys’ Destination Gateway new Events module, allows users to track events such as Carnival across thousands of global destinations — and access rich data on flight searches, ticket sales, arrivals, and origin markets during the lead-up period.Â
Enquire about this tool and be able to track events before, during and after!
