Brazilian visitors to Orlando helped boost the local economy by some $280 million and assisted in stimulating international traffic at Orlando International Airport, the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority said Tuesday.
Named the “Floridian of the Year” for 2011 by Florida Trend Magazine, the robust Brazilian economy has made Florida the number one destination in the U.S. for tourists arrivals from that country and helped off-set a slight decline in domestic traffic for the month at Orlando International Airport.
“Based on November numbers, on a rolling 12-month basis, Brazilian traffic has increased by 41 percent at Orlando International Airport, said Phil Brown, Executive Director of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. “Approximately 203,552 Brazilian passengers can be directly attributed to TAM Airlines’ twice-daily non-stop flights from MCO to Sao Paulo. Fueled by Brazilian numbers, we should be able to break another international travel record at Orlando International for 2011.”
It is estimated that over 1.4 million Brazilians visited the United States in 2011.
