Three of the ten best amusement parks in the world are in Brazil

July 13, 2022

Robert

Brazil has been gaining prominence in the international market for large amusement theme parks, surpassing even the US, which is practically the inventor of this market. This is shown by the recent ranking of the ten best parks in the world, organized by the travel site Tripadvisor.

Among the top 10, there are three Brazilians: Beto Carrero World, in Santa Catarina, which came in 3rd place; the Hot Park, in Goiás, 6th place; and Terra Mágica Florybal, in Rio Grande do Sul, 10th elected.

Only two of the winners are American, Dollywood (8th) and Universal’s Islands of Adventure (9th). The ranking champion is in Spain: Siam Park. The survey was conducted based on a Tripadvisor reader rating between May 1 and April 30 and is part of the Travelers’ Choice 2022 – Best of the Best.

In 2017, Universal’s Island of Adventure won a similar list held by the site. At the time, the USA concentrated seven of the ten best in the world. Beto Carrero World was already emerging among the ranked, but with a lower position, 7th place.

Inaugurated in 1991 by the artist of the same name, the Santa Catarina park is a complex with a zoo, places for shows and toys, occupying a space of 14 square kilometers in Penha, a municipality hitherto ignored by tourists, located near Balneário Camboriú.

“When they built the park, there was not even a hotel for tourists in Penha. Today, the city has restaurants and good options for accommodation”, says Maria Figueiredo, vice president of Braztoa (Brazilian Association of Tour Operators). “It impacted the region where it is located, generating income and jobs in the city, in the same proportion as in the park.”

Tourists travel to Penha just to see the park, not the city. This is the case of rowing teacher Roberto Nascimento, 51, who left in a car with his family in São Paulo with his wife, pre-teen son, mother and mother-in-law.

“We like to visit parks, inside and outside the country. I am very impressed with Beto Carrero World. The quality of the shows does not owe anything to those presented in American parks”, he comments.

Frederico, Nascimento’s son, liked the trip so much that he convinced the family to plan a return trip, to celebrate his birthday the following year – the pandemic came and the plans were aborted.

“Theme parks, when well structured and managed, become the destination of the trip”, says Magda Nassar, president of Abav (Brazilian Association of Travel Agencies).

“In Brazil, Beto Carrero, Hot Beach and Beach Park [que não está na lista] are among the most sought after”, he adds.

For tourism specialists, the big surprise in the ranking is Florybal, in Gramado, the least popular of the three and focused on children. The place is a garden with giant dinosaur figures, toys and tranquil attractions, such as a pterodactyl-shaped cable car, 3D cinema and puppet theater.

Although the Top 10 of 2022 brings together the best rated by tourists, this does not mean that classic parks like Disney have been forgotten by the public. On the contrary: according to Braztoa, the American giant continued to be among the most sought after international destinations by Brazilians in 2021, even in the face of the challenges and health restrictions imposed by the pandemic in the USA.