Bend it Like Brazil

Brazil toppled England recently in a contest of stamina, determination and smarts — with big implications in Florida.

This wasn't the World Cup, but a victory in the most overseas tourists who come to the Sunshine State. Brazil, with 1.2 million Floridian tourists in 2013, beat England, which sent fewer than 1.1 million, according to U.S. Commerce Department figures analyzed in a Reuters story.

The Brazil-to-Florida tourism total is up 23.5% over 2012, when 971,000 tourists made the trip north. It's also a continuation of a six-year trend: The number of Brazilians to visit Florida has increased 292% since 2006. (Canada, with 3.5 million visitors in 2013, is the overall global leader in Florida tourists.)

The locale of choice once in Florida for Brazilian tourists is Orlando, even over Miami. More than 750,000 of the total visited the land of amusement parks and outlet malls last year, states Reuters. Orlando, scattered with tea rooms and British pubs, has long been a leader for Brits who seek a slice of home. But now Orlando, says the Reuters story, “has become noticeably spiced with rodizio all-you-can-eat service at Brazilian steak houses and bilingual retail staff speaking Portuguese.”

Retailers seized on the Brazilian trend. The Florida Mall, one of the largest in the Orlando region, set up a soccer viewing station with live broadcasts of every World Cup game, the Reuters story reports.
And a manager with Perfumeland, fittingly on International Drive, tells Reuters this past June and early July — winter break for Brazil — was so busy it was like 40 straight Black Fridays.