Most World Cup Attendees Were Young, Educated Males

Educated young men made up the majority of the attendees at the World Cup this summer, according to new data released by Brazil Tourism this week.

The organization’s data reveals that World Cup visitors were a fairly homogenous group: Eighty-eight percent of foreigner visitors were men, 78 percent had a college or postgraduate degree, and almost all of them, 95 percent, planned to return to the country.

Other notable characteristic of visitors were their age and respective incomes.

These visitors were not only young -- a quarter of visitors were between 25 and 31 years old -- but they made enough money -- an average yearly salary of $56,000 -- to spend an average of 16 days and $2,100 on the trip.

Although Americans accounted for the second highest volume of tourists after Argentinians, these statistics take into account visitors from 203 nationalities.

The attendee results suggest that either Brazil did not do enough to attract a more diverse set of visitors or highlight how such a high-profile -- and expensive -- event becomes inaccessible to many travelers.

The statistics; however, bode well for Brazil, for whom the event attracted many first time visitors with the plans to return and the earning potential to make those future trips possible. Sixty percent of all attendees were in the country for the first time.