Research released this Friday (2) by the Lodging Union of the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro (HotéisRIO) reveals that the average hotel occupancy in the city, during New Year’s Eve, was 90.58%. The best performance was recorded by the Copacabana/Leme region, which had an occupancy rate of 95.59%, followed by Ipanema/Leblon (92.71%), Barra/Recreio/São Conrado (89.67%), Flamengo/Botafogo (88.02%) and Centro (85.83%).
The president of HotéisRIO, Alfredo Lopes, highlighted the massive presence of foreign tourists, especially from Mercosur countries, as well as North Americans, Europeans and Canadians. “It was a very special party, highlighted by Guinness Book like the biggest New Year’s Eve in the world”, stated Lopes.
Lopes highlighted that the New Year’s Eve in Rio it was very hot, which crowded the Rio beaches.
“The New Year of 2026 brought together more than 5.1 million people, including locals and tourists, on 13 stages spread across the city, also highlighting Barra and Recreio, where we had fireworks at 12 points. On Copacabana Beach, 2.6 million people witnessed a show with 1,200 drones and more fireworks, fired from a greater number of ferries – 19 in total.”
The union’s expectation is that foreign tourists will return to Rio in the future. “Their presence is fundamental to the growth of our tourism, especially because this visitor profile stays longer and spends more, injecting resources into the economy of Rio de Janeiro”, said Lopes.
“This good performance was also stimulated by the fact that the New Year’s Eve fell on a Wednesday, as many people ended up amending the holiday, as Rio is still crowded. With innovations every New Year’s Evewe keep our destination always moving, current, attractive and competitive”, concluded the president of HotéisRIO.
