Brazil 2014: 886,000 tourists injected €1.46bn into Rio de Janeiro's economy

886,000 tourists -- 471,000 foreigners and 415,000 Brazilians -- visited Rio de Janeiro during the 2014 World Cup, the Brazilian government said on 15/07/2014. Rio hosted seven of the 64 games of the tournament (four group stage fixtures, one round of 16, one quarter-final and the final).

The tourists, who stayed for an average of nine days in Rio, spent 4.4bn reais (€1.46bn) in the local economy, whilst the minister for tourism had forecasted 1bn reais (€332m).

The number of foreign tourists was 17.75% higher than the number initially forecast by the local government. For the most part, they came from Southern American countries, such as Argentina (77,000 tourists), Chile (45,000) and Colombia (31,000). 24,000 Americans, 16,000 French people, 15,000 Mexicans, 10,000 English people and 10,000 Germans also went to Rio.

78% of the spectators went to Maracanã by metro

• 78% of the spectators who watched a game at Maracanã stadium went by metro.
  • Three stations serve the stadium.
• In total, 686,000 people used the metro to leave from or arrive to the stadium during the seven…