Carnival In Rio Rank As The Top South American Bucket List Event
The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is a festival held every year before Lent and considered the biggest carnival in the world with two million people per day on the streets. Despite the millions of people that attend every year, it’s still the top event that travellers want to attend, featuring on 18% of the world’s bucket lists.
We recently conducted a survey asking travellers across the globe (including Europe, North America, and Australasia) to identify the top countries, cities, attractions, and events on their bucket lists. Respondents were allowed to offer multiple answers for each category since many people don’t have only one destination on their bucket list.
You can view the global results of the survey here. Below, we take a look at the results specific to Africa.
Brazil – South America’s star bucket list attraction
Brazil features on 52.2% of the bucket lists of those surveyed, followed by Peru (43.5%), Ecuador (39.1%), Bolivia (34.8%), Argentina (30.4%), Chile (27.9%), Colombia (26.1%), Venezuela (25.3%), Uruguay (21.7%), and Paraguay (17.4%)
Brazil dominated bucket lists for the South American region, featuring on over half of the bucket lists of those surveyed. It also ranked 8th globally, with Australia taking first place as the most bucket-listed destination in the world.
Brazil currently attracts just over 6.5 million tourists a year, with revenues from international visitors exceeding US$ 5.8 billion. Brazil offers for both domestic and international tourists an ample range of options, with natural areas being its most popular tourism product, a combination of leisure and recreation, mainly sun and beach, and adventure travel, as well as historic and cultural tourism.
Among the most popular destinations are the Amazon Rainforest, beaches and dunes in the Northeast Region, the Pantanal in the Center-West Region, beaches at Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina, cultural and historic tourism in Minas Gerais and business trips to Sao Paulo city.
Rio de Janeiro – The marvellous city still holds the world’s fascination
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (58.3%) appeared most frequently on the bucket lists of those surveyed, followed by Buenos Aires, Argentina (25.9%), Lima, Peru (25.1%), Medellin, Colombia (22.7%), Santiago, Chile (20.8%), Cuzco, Peru (18.1%), Quito, Ecuador (16.7%), Valparaíso, Chile (14.9%), Bogota, Colombia (12.5%), and Caracas, Venezuela (8.3%).
Rio de Janeiro is the South American city that appeared most frequently on the bucket lists of those surveyed, followed by Buenos Aires in Argentina and Lima in Peru. The city also placed 7th globally – the only South American city to rank in the global top 10.
Rio welcomes 2.82 million tourists every year, and most of the international visitors hail from Argentina, Italy, and the United States of America. Interestingly, tourist visa requirements have been waived for many countries, including Greece, Italy, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, Turkey, and many more.
The huge seaside city is famed for its Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, 38m Christ the Redeemer statue atop Mount Corcovado, and for Sugarloaf Mountain, a granite peak with cable cars to its summit. The city is also known for its sprawling favelas (shanty towns). Its raucous Carnaval festival, featuring parade floats, flamboyant costumes and samba dancers, is considered the world’s largest.
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador – A must-see attraction in South America
The Galapagos Islands in Ecuador have been added to 62.5% of the bucket lists of those surveyed, followed by Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro (47.9%), Machu Picchu, Peru (46.1%), The Amazon Rainforest, Brazil (45.8%), Iguazu Falls, Brazil and Argentina (41.7%), Easter Island, Chile (37.5%), The Rainbow Mountain, Peru (33.3%), The Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, Brazil (29.2%), Chichen Itza, Mexico (25.1%), The Perito Moreno Glacier, Patagonia (24.6%).
The Galapagos Islands in Ecuador is South America’s top tourist attraction, beating other top attractions, such as Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Machu Picchu in Peru, and the Amazon Rainforest.
Every year, the islands welcome over 275,000 tourism – a number that rapidly increasing year on year, according to the Galapagos National Park Service. Visitors come from Ecuador (34%), USA (28%), UK (5%), Germany (4%), Canada (3%), Australia (3%), Argentina, France, Netherlands, and Spain (2% each).
Over the past three decades, tourism in the Galapagos Islands has grown at an annual rate of about 6.71 percent, according to the study. Revenue from tourism has helped protect parks on the islands, but there is growing concern that popular land-based trips could harm beaches and wildlife, according to local tour operators.
One of the most popular sites for tourists visiting the Galapagos is Tortuga Bay, located in Santa Cruz. Another top stop is the Interpretation Center of San Cristóbal, which showcases the history and settlement of the islands, including natural history, human history and conservation. The Sierra Negra and Chico volcanoes on Isabela Island, which were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, are also popular choices among visitors.
Carnaval, Brazil – The world’s most bucket-listed event
Carnaval, Brazil (62.5%) is the event that has been added most frequently to the bucket lists of those surveyed. This is followed by New Year's Eve at Copacabana beach, Brazil (45.8%), Ferias de Cali, Colombia (25.1%), Feria de las Flores, Colombia (21.6%), Fiesta de la Santa Tierra, Peru (20.8%), Septenario Festival, Ecuador (19.3%), Wine Harvest Festival, Argentina (17.9%), World Tango Championship, Argentina (16.7%), Iberoamerican Film Festival, Colombia (12.5%), and Armed Forces Day, Chile (8.3%).
Without a doubt, Carnival is the biggest national festivity in Brazil and one of the biggest in the world – and it’s caught the attention of travellers. In fact, it appeared most frequently on the bucket lists of travellers surveyed, beating the Chinese New Year in Singapore, the Lantern Festival in Taiwan, New Years in Times Square, and Mardi Gras in New Orleans. New Year’s Eve at Copacabana Beach also made the top 10 global list, ranking 6th worldwide.
For five days each year, the entire country unites in one big street party, where everyone is invited. But Carnival is not only a big part of the country’s culture, it is also an important event for the Brazilian economy. Since 2015, the revenue of the tourism and services sector during Carnival has exceeded six billion Brazilian reals (some 1.6 billion U.S. dollars). Moreover, the event creates around 20,000 temporary jobs across the country every year.
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