Brazil's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first quarter this year grew by 4.3% compared with the same period in 2006, according to data from the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE). In the whole of last year, the Brazilian GDP increased by 3.7%.
The GDP for the first quarter reached 596.2 billion Brazilian reais (US$ 307 billion). From that amount, 28.7 billion reais (US$ 14.7 billion) came from the agricultural sector, 147.6 billion reais (US$ 76.1 billion) came from industry, and 334.7 billion reais (US$ 172.5 billion) came from the services sector.
The sector that expanded the most, compared with the same period in 2006, was services, at a growth rate of 4.6%, followed by industry, at 3%, and agriculture, at 2.1%.
Promoting Tourism
Meanwhile, the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism, by means of the Brazilian Tourism Institute (Embratur), will attend international fairs this month in Spain, the United States, England, and China.
The participation of the Embratur in international fairs is a strategy for promoting Brazilian tourism abroad. In the first half of this year, the Institute participated in 23 fairs in 13 different countries, counting on the promotion work of 335 professionals.
The next event to be attended by the Embratur will be the Beijing International Tourism Expo (BITE 2007), to be held in China, from June 21st to 23rd. From June 27th to 30th, the Embratur will promote luxury routes at the Luxury Travel Fair, in London, England.
On the 16th and 17th, the Embratur will also be present at the Third Annual Travel Expo (NBC4), in Los Angeles, United States.
Tourism has become Brazil's third largest source of foreign. In 2004, tourism ended up in sixth place. Only iron ore and soybean exports earned more foreign revenues than the tourism sector.
In 2004, for the first time, the number of European tourists who came to Brazil was greater than the number of Latin American tourists.
The increase is attributed to the commercial promotion program begun in 2003 with the National Tourism Plan, when Embratur concentrated on its activities abroad.
Anba, ABr
