Rio de Janeiro is promoting itself in restaurants and bars across the UK as the next host city of the Summer Olympics and the World Cup.

The Rio Convention & Visitors Bureau and Las Iguanas, already established as the leading collection of Latin American restaurants in the UK, has brought the taste and spirit of Rio de Janeiro to Britain to brighten up the London Olympics and the summer of 2102.

Rio Botequims - or typical Rio bars - have been popping up all over the UK in 27 Las Iguanas restaurants in partnership with the Rio Convention & Visitors Bureau, Riotur, TAM Airlines, Sport TV, the Rio Film Commission and other partners.

The choice of Las Iguanas to feature Rio de Janeiro is no accident as it is Rio that in 2016 will be the next city to host the Summer Olympic & Paralympic Games after London.

And before 2016, Brazil and Rio will also be hosting the Confederations Cup in 2013, and then in June and July 2014, the 20th FIFA World Cup.

As well as offering customers the opportunity in all its restaurants to try a special Rio menu, Las Iguanas, the Rio Convention & Visitors Bureau, and their partners are also staging a number of culinary, cultural and sporting activities over the period of the Olympics, especially in London at the Royal Festival Hall, O2, Spitalfields, and Stratford Westfields restaurants.

These include a gathering of the UK travel trade and media for lunch at the ‘Rio Botequim’, and a reception for the UK and Brazilian film industries.

There is also the opportunity for customers at Las iguanas to win trips to Rio de Janeiro to discover the city, and enjoy its warmth, hospitality and beauty, as well as the city’s many botequims, restaurants, clubs and bars.

For more details of what is happening at the ‘Rio Botequims’ and in Las Iguanas over the Olympic period, visit the Las Iguanas website or follow on Twitter (@las_Iguanas or @RioDiary).