The Government of Bahia reported on 18 February that this year’s carnival season welcomed an unprecedented 3.8 million visitors across the state’s 13 tourist zones, injecting R$8.1 billion (US$1.65 billion) into the local economy. International arrivals—from 80 countries led by Argentina, France, Spain, Germany and the United States—jumped 12 percent year-on-year thanks to additional charter flights and expanded cruise-ship berths in Salvador.
Airport operator VINCI Airports said that Salvador International handled 820,000 passengers between 8 and 18 February, running at 98 percent seat occupancy; three days posted the airport’s highest ever movement counts. Hotels along the Ondina-Barra circuit were sold out despite room-rate increases averaging 22 percent. The surge forced late-booking travellers to seek accommodation in Feira de Santana, 110 km inland, adding two hours’ transfer time each way.
![Bahia’s 2026 Carnival Draws Record 3.8 Million Tourists, Testing Airports and Hotel Capacity]()
The surge in demand also highlights the importance of getting travel documents sorted early. VisaHQ, for instance, offers a streamlined online application service for Brazil (https://www.visahq.com/brazil/) that walks visitors through each e-Visa step, tracks progress in real time, and dispatches support staff if additional paperwork is requested—helping travellers avoid last-minute holdups at the height of Carnival.
The Secretariat of Tourism (Setur-BA) credited a streamlined e-Visa process launched last November for secondary markets such as Poland and South Africa, noting a 40 percent uptick in approvals. However, immigration queues stretched to 90 minutes during peak bank-holiday arrivals, prompting calls for additional Federal Police staffing at passport control ahead of Easter.
For corporate mobility planners, the data underscore the need to secure cancellable bookings months in advance for projects in Salvador’s petrochemical hub during festival windows. Air-capacity tightness also makes it advisable to ticket domestic connectors on the same PNR as international legs to benefit from IATA-protected transfers if delays occur.
Airport operator VINCI Airports said that Salvador International handled 820,000 passengers between 8 and 18 February, running at 98 percent seat occupancy; three days posted the airport’s highest ever movement counts. Hotels along the Ondina-Barra circuit were sold out despite room-rate increases averaging 22 percent. The surge forced late-booking travellers to seek accommodation in Feira de Santana, 110 km inland, adding two hours’ transfer time each way.
The surge in demand also highlights the importance of getting travel documents sorted early. VisaHQ, for instance, offers a streamlined online application service for Brazil (https://www.visahq.com/brazil/) that walks visitors through each e-Visa step, tracks progress in real time, and dispatches support staff if additional paperwork is requested—helping travellers avoid last-minute holdups at the height of Carnival.
The Secretariat of Tourism (Setur-BA) credited a streamlined e-Visa process launched last November for secondary markets such as Poland and South Africa, noting a 40 percent uptick in approvals. However, immigration queues stretched to 90 minutes during peak bank-holiday arrivals, prompting calls for additional Federal Police staffing at passport control ahead of Easter.
For corporate mobility planners, the data underscore the need to secure cancellable bookings months in advance for projects in Salvador’s petrochemical hub during festival windows. Air-capacity tightness also makes it advisable to ticket domestic connectors on the same PNR as international legs to benefit from IATA-protected transfers if delays occur.
