How to bag yourself a bargain holiday to Rio after the Olympics

Air fares have tumbled to 1980 levels as post-Games doldrums begin

Flight prices to Rio have fallen dramatically (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

As Rio prepares to hand over the Olympic baton to Tokyo, the cost of travelling to the Brazilian city has tumbled to the level that prevailed in 1980 - when Moscow hosted the Games.

Research by The Independent has found that Rio is about to suffer the same post-Olympics drop in tourism that affected Sydney (2000), Athens (2004) and London (2012). While air fares during the Games have rarely fallen below £800 return, as soon as the Closing Ceremony ends the bargains begin.

A flight combination involving American Airlines and LATAM, from Heathrow via New York to Rio, is on sale for £637 return on a number of days next week. To show how weak is demand for the Brazilian city - that is significantly lower than the fare from London to New York and back.

The scaled-back Paralympics, which take place 7-18 September, are unlikely to see fares firm significantly. And after they end, the normal spring surge in travel to Brazil is unlikely to materialise.

In November and early December, the Dutch airline KLM is selling return tickets from London via Amsterdam to Rio for as little as £475 return, slightly below the £480 that the same airline charged for the same trip in 1980. Retail prices have risen about four-fold since then.

Hotel rates are also plummeting. For the final weekend of the Games, good hotels in Rio have been able to charge hundreds of pounds; but once the officials and media start to leave, the city’s oversupply of beds will become apparent. A good hotel such as the Premier Copacabana, which boasts a rooftop pool, is wide open with availability at £58 for a double room. The two-star Cruz de Ouro is selling double rooms at just £16, including breakfast.

The usual post-Olumpics doldrums has been exacerbated by the economic turmoil in Brazil, together with concern about the Zika virus. The Games have taken place in winter. This is when the mosquito responsible for the spread, aedes aegypti, is least active. There are fears that, as the weather warms, the virus will being to spread once more.

One bright spot for city officials seeking evidence of a tourism dividend for Rio is that the American swimmers who claimed to have been robbed have now admitted they fabricated their story. But such is the city’s reputation for crime that the media initially reported the “crime” without question.

A few days before the Olympics ended, the Foreign Office said: "A number of tourists in Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics have reported thefts and robberies around Rio’s beaches (particularly Copacabana and Ipanema), and in Lapa and Santa Teresa. "