Booming tourism is set to boost Brazil’s foreign property market, industry experts are claiming at ITB. The sales manager at the Property Professionals Group, uv10, believes that the rising population could open up new opportunities foreign investors, as Brazilian consumers begin to spend more and more.

The last few years have seen 7 million people join the middle classes in Brazil, so this represents massive new buying power.”She added that the number of Brazilians taking holidays inside their own country had also increased and the nation was “absolutely filled with tourism”.

According to statistics published by the International Monetary Fund, Brazil will see economic growth of 3.5% by the end of 2010. One organisation that agrees with uv10 is the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which holds its press conference tomorrow at 14.00, at which it will launch its new economic impact research. WTTC has chosen Florianopolis, the capital of the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, for its upcoming snnual Global Travel & Tourism Summit, which takes on 15-16 May. And foreign investment in Brazil, and especially in Santa Catarina, will be high on the agenda.