The cooperation agreement signed in December 2009 between Embratur (the Brazilian Tourist Board) and VisitBritain is to be renewed.

The decision was announced at a meeting between Embratur’s director of international markets, Marcelo Pedroso and the chairman of VisitBritain, Christopher Rodrigues, which took place in São Paulo.

Pedroso announced both parties will “establish a lasting cooperation which goes beyond major sporting events”.

A key agenda point at the meeting was encouraging tourists to visit attractions throughout Brazil.

Pedroso confirmed one of Embratur’s key goals for the 2014 FIFA World Cup is to ensure that 25 per cent of foreign tourists travel to other Brazilian cities, in addition to those hosting football matches.

“We are stepping up the promotion of our tourist destinations in order to ensure that the 600,000 foreign visitors who will come to Brazil for the 2014 FIFA World Cup are better distributed throughout the country,” said Marcelo.

Rodrigues was also interested in new internet tools.

He said: “Embratur’s partnership initiative with Google for the creation of the Brand Channel was a great step forward. These days it’s not possible to create a promotional strategy without using the internet and social networks.”

Embratur is keen to draw on the expertise of its British counterpart for communications strategies around hosting large scale events.

“We can learn a lot from VisitBritain’s promotional models,” said Pedroso, who also revealed Embratur’s new advertising campaign will be launched during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games this August.