The number of British people travelling to Brazil last year increased by four per cent, with 155,548 making the trip in 2012.

The data, released by the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism, confirms that a record number of international tourists visited Brazil in 2012, with a total of 5,433,354 tourists travelling into the country, a 4.5 per cent growth on 2011.

The news comes as Brazil gears up to host two sporting events this year, the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 taking place in June 2013.

The matches will be played at six of the 2014 FIFA World Cup host city stadiums, including: Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Brasilia, Recife, Fortaleza and Belo Horizonte.

Commenting on the latest tourism figures, Flavio Dino, president, Embratur, said: “The upcoming major world sporting events such as the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil and the Rio 2016 Olympic & Paralympic games provides a fantastic opportunity to showcase Brazil’s diversity.

“The latest tourism figures signify that momentum is growing ahead of our upcoming mega events and we are on track to meet our goal of ten million visitors by 2020.”

As a result of the increase in tourist numbers, Brazil is working to meet the growing demand for hotels and resorts. According to the Ministry of Tourism, 109 new hotels, resorts and hostels are being built in the 12 host cities for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.

This will add to the pre-existing 567,100 beds the 12 cities currently have.

After a meeting with representatives from the hotel industry, Dino said: “We are focused on providing a great service at a fair price, and this is what we need to guarantee.”

The Federal Government has already reduced taxes and electricity tariffs are down by 32 per cent with the aim of keeping costs in the hotel sector low.

“The Federal Government is committed to keeping costs down by taking measures including reducing taxes and electricity.

“We are also urging the private sector to keep prices fair before the major sporting events,” concluded Dino.