Bahia is the second tourist destination of the country. It has the longest Brazilian shore with 1.183 km length and attractions such as Abrolhos, Morro de São Paulo, Camamu, Baia de Todos os Santos, Itacaré, Ilhéus, Litoral Norte and many other charms.

Nowadays, Salvador is the most visited city in Bahia, being responsible for over 45% of the overall tourism flow in the state occupying the third position in the national ranking.

According to Bahiatursa (Bahia Tourism Officce) data - the annual occupation rate average of the hotel sector in Salvador is 80%, which is considered incredibly high only comparable to the biggest tourist centers of the world. Nevertheless, six years ago that rate used to be around 20% and 30%, what shows the significant leap of the sector as a result of the development and growth of the city more and more demanding tourist services. In 2002 the occupation rate in Salvador was 62.8%, In 2004 it surpassed 70% and between the end of 2005 and January 2006 it reached 80%.

Salvador is the number one city in the preference of Italians and Spanish. It is the second option for Germans and French, and the third most visited by English and Portuguese.

The largest part of tourists visiting the city is concentrated during summertime attracted by the popular festivities and the Carnival. Besides that Bahia offers a large number of attractions such as museums, the historic center, monuments, churches, Folk Lore, music, cuisine, natural beauties, business, with a mix of attractions all the year round.

According to data from the Culture and Tourism Secretariat, Bahia was visited by almost 5 million people in 2004.

The following chart demonstrates the overall flux to Bahia and Salvador, its main entrance gate.

FOREIGN FLUX (em 1000 turistas) - 2004

OVERALL TOURIST FLUX – 2004
State Total	4.897,00
Salvador	2.280,53

Source:Secretaria de Cultura e Turismo

During the same period the foreign and national tourists flux to Bahia and its capital, Salvador was the following:

Fluxo Nacional (em 1000 turistas) - 2004

Place	Tourists  #
BAHIA	664,22
Salvador	442,81

Generating total revenue in the order of US$ 1,093.19 million, as demonstrated on the chart below.

Total Tourism Revenue – 2004
(In US$ million)

Source:Secretaria de Cultura e Turismo

Source:Secretaria de Cultura e Turismo

DOMESTIC REVENUE (In US$ million)

Source:Secretaria de Cultura e Turismo

Until, 2015, we have the following goals regarding overall and foreign tourist flows into the state:

Goals for 2020 in global turistic flow in the Bahia State

On the following chart one can visualize other results of the tourist sector in Bahia in 2004:

Accommodations
TOTAL OF BEDROOMS	192.200
TOTAL OF LODGING UNITS	72.200
Generated Jobs
Bahia	595650
Diretos	108.300
Indiretos	487.350
Economic dependency
População	1.191.300
Famílias	297.825
Airports
Dep. Luís Eduardo Magalhães Salvador Airport
International flights – Week frequency	79 (landings + take offs)
Porto Seguro Airport
Flights – month average	703 (landings + take offs)

Source: SCT

 PRODETUR

The Secretariat of Culture and Tourism has launched a new strategy regarding Bahian tourism to be active from 2003 to 2020. This new strategy called Século XXI: Tourism Consolidation is based on the same principles that have orientated the PRODETUR model proposed in 1991, aiming to direct the Governmental interventions towards the areas of tourist interest of the state.

The five macro-strategies outlined to the state until the year 2020 are:

Public Structure: To continue fomenting the development of tourism in the state by doing actions in the areas of planning, basic infrastructure, and follow up.

Municipal Management: To intensify the support to the technical-administrative modernization of the Mayoralties of the tourist counties making possible a management model that takes reference in the sustainable development principles.

Education for Tourism: To continue to stimulate the participation of the communities in the receptive nucleus in the social-educational process improving their life conditions and tourists experience quality.

Integration: To reinforce the need of integration amongst the players involved with tourist activities focusing on the insertion of all of them into a common project of sustainable development.

Marketing: Considered as the spinal core of this new tourist development policy, carried out by Bahiatursa those marketing actions will be directed towards the market in order to monitor habits, life style and consumer’s tendencies. They will orientate the development of priority actions as well as a mix of marketing customized to each market and based on research and planning.

In this new strategy besides Costa do Dendê, Costa do Cacau, Costa do Descobrimento, Costa das Baleias and Chapada Diamantina, new  areas have been incorporated therefore comprising the new Tourist geography of Bahia, here they are: Caminhos do Oeste, Lagos do São Francisco, Vale do Jequiriçá and Caminhos do Sertão.

Regarding priority targeting markets SCT has elected the following: The USA, England, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay. In relation to domestic tourism the focus is directed to: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Pernambuco, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and Distrito Federal.