RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian government is hoping that the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will help to attract new investments to the country, at a time when it is mired in a deep recession, said the Minister of Tourism on Monday.
Speaking at the International Tourism Fair (Fitur) in Madrid, Henrique Eduardo Alves explained that the 11 billion U.S. dollars being invested by Brazil to host Rio 2016 must leave behind a clear legacy for the city and bring more tourists to the entire country.
According to Alves, "15 percent of the money invested went towards sports infrastructure", while the rest was invested in structures that "will leave a legacy for the city."
"Brazil has great growth potential in the tourism area and will certainly make it an area to improve upon," he added.
Currently, Brazil sees 70 million domestic tourists and 6 million foreign tourists a year, which Alves considered to be "low, since this is the same number of visitors to the Eiffel Tower."
To bring in more foreign tourists, the Brazilian government has lifted visa requirements for citizens of the U.S., Canada, Australia and Japan for the duration of the Olympic Games, which it hopes will bring in 20 percent more tourists from these countries this year.
Furthermore, the country is carrying out a huge campaign on social media and online across Latin America.
Finally, Alves vowed that one of Brazil's greatest problems, security, would be "exemplary" during the Olympics, with 80,000 security forces guarding the event.