High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Tourism in Brazil is a large industry that serves millions of international and domestic tourists yearly. Tourists visit Brazil to see natural wonders, cities, historic landmarks and entertainment venues. Brazilians seek similar attractions, as well as recreation and vacation areas. 6.5 million foreign tourists visited Brazil in 2009. Rio de Janeiro is the most sought destination by foreign tourists in the Southern Hemisphere. The city of São Paulo was the city that climbed the third highest number of positions in the ranking. In 2008, Rio de Janeiro received 2.820 million tourists (40th in the international list), representing growth of 7.3% compared with the previous year. The Brazilian city that received the highest number of foreign visitors was São Paulo, which, despite having ranked 72nd, recorded an increase of 30.4% in number of visitors.