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One year on, Rio suffering post-Games blues
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Rio de Janeiro hotels nearly doubled capacity for the Olympics, but had a problem once sports fans went home: The tourism industry had checked out with them.
After being criticized for not having enough rooms in the buildup to the Games, Rio energetically boosted bed numbers, hoping that this would also benefit the famous seaside city afterward. And during the Olympics last August things looked good: Occupancy reached 76 percent.
Fast forward to June this year, with Rio state nearly bankrupt and the city awash in crime: the occupancy rate was 37 percent.
By comparison, in June 2016 and 2015 occupancy was 50 percent.
鈥淲e raised our hotel capacity from 29,000 rooms in 2009 to 56,000 in 2016,鈥 said Alfredo Lopes, head of the Rio hotel industry association. 鈥淲hat we didn鈥檛 do was attract more tourists.鈥
鈥淭he situation is really critical,鈥 said Brazilian Hospitality and Food Federation president Alexandre Sampaio.
鈥淗otels agreed to big investments in order to meet the demands of the (Olympics authorities), with more modern establishments and the entry of new international chains. However, these investments are now compromised,鈥 he said.
鈥淚f we don鈥檛 manage to get an acceptable occupancy rate in the near future, many hotels risk closing in the second half of the year.鈥
The situation is worst in the far-flung area of western Rio where the Olympic Park was built. Now that the Games are over, there is almost no reason why a tourist would want to be based there, with difficult access to sightseeing favorites like Copacabana beach or the Christ the Redeemer statue.
Many of the nearby sports arenas are either in a semi-abandoned state or are being used too seldomly to support the neighborhood鈥檚 economy or to attract new investment.
鈥淭oday almost no one goes to those hotels. Most have only one or two floors open, with 12 percent occupancy,鈥 Lopes said. 鈥淣o big hotel chain wants to invest millions just for the Olympics.鈥
But even more central areas are hurting.
The four-star Arena Ipanema hotel, right by the famous neighborhood鈥檚 beach, was inaugurated just days before the Olympic opening ceremony.
The manager, Douglas Viegas, described 鈥渁 very serious occupancy crisis鈥 in the hotel, which has 136 rooms.
鈥淚t鈥檚 absolutely not what we were expecting,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e were counting on an occupancy of 75 percent but today we鈥檙e at around 40 percent.鈥
Brazil is struggling to exit a deep two-year recession. It is also suffering a surge in violent crime.
Sampaio said the problem wasn鈥檛 just local.
鈥淩io is the gateway to Brazil and this situation can end up affecting the whole country,鈥 he said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e missed the train. We should have capitalized on the positive image of a perfectly organized Olympic Games.鈥
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