The president of Brazilian tourist board Embratur, Flávio Dino, has highlighted the financial returns made by the destination during the recent Confederations Cup.

Dino confirmed numbers exceeded expectations, with Embratur recording $329 million in additional spending, including income from hotels, food away from home, and other related expenditure.

Spending by tourists - Brazilians and foreigners - was estimated by Embratur at $145 million.

“A study by Embratur showed tourism had a far greater impact than anticipated,” Dino told local radio show Brasil em Pauta.

There were 16 games during the two weeks of the Confederations Cup, with the hosts eventually crowned champions.

“This is important because a return is immediate and goes straight into the pocket of the entrepreneur in the long chain associated to tourism,” said the president of Embratur, during the interview.

“The long-term return is the main picture, since the name and attributes of Brazil are reported worldwide during the period of mega-events.”

Dino added: “From the point of view of promoting international tourism in Brazil, this is a spectacular gain, which would be achieved only with a very massive investment of resources in television advertising in those markets.”

However, it was not all plain sailing for Brazil, with coverage of the events marred by long running street protests against corruption, rising prices and the perceived miss allocation of oil revenues.