The number of Brazilian visitors to the United States could easily be doubled

Friday, December 30, 2011

That's one of the points made in an article here in the New York Times that fits the theme of this site perfectly - how the larger and larger number of Brazilians visiting Miami is changing the city. Included are some of the changes that happen when a country begins to become a regional power and a growing middle class, resulting in more and more tourists with money to spend abroad:

Aware that Brazilians will not spend freely unless they feel at home, shopping malls have enticed them by hiring Portuguese-speaking sales clerks to proffer Dolce & Gabbana dresses and Hublot watches. Even Target has posted help-wanted signs in Portuguese.

Unfortunately there are no concrete numbers about the presence of Portuguese. However, there are a great deal of numbers referencing finances, and this one is probably the most immediately interesting.

Most of the Brazilians who come to the United States visit Florida, and in the first nine months of this year, an estimated 1.1 million Brazilians spent $1.6 billion in the state, an increase of nearly 60 percent from the previous year. Among foreign nations, only Canada sends more visitors to Florida.

Increasing the number of US embassies in Brazil would seem to be a no-brainer.

0 comments:

  © Blogger templates Newspaper by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP