Brazil sees record high number of foreign visitors in 2016

Brazil saw a record high 6.6 million foreign tourists in 2016, up 4.8 percent compared to 2015, which is largely due to the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, according to the Ministry of Tourism on Wednesday.

This sharp rise saw foreign tourists inject 6.2 billion U.S. dollars, a 6.2 percent rise over 2015.

In a press conference, Tourism Minister Marx Beltrao said this balance was very positive and showed the country could take advantage of such big events.

"The numbers are very positive. In comparison with the international situation, we could still grow significantly. But we have shown we can learn how to take on mega-events in our country," he pointed out.

The largest source of visitors was Argentina, which saw 2.1 million tourists arrive in Brazil. The U.S. comes in second place, with around 600,000 visitors, followed by Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, France, Germany, Italy, England, Portugal and Spain.

Beltrao said that the government hoped to see a 6 percent rise in foreign travellers, similar to other countries the year after they held the Olympic Games.

A poll taken of foreign visitors during the Games showed that over 87 percent of them intended to come back to Brazil and 94.2 percent wanted to come back to Rio de Janeiro.