Last year Brazil was the destination for 64,904 international flights, a 30.7 percent increase over the 49,557 that went to the South American giant in 2010, the country’s public tourism promotion company, Embratur, announced Tuesday.

The country sending the largest number of flights to Brazil in 2014 was the United States, whose citizens last year had 14,573 air travel options to visit Brazilian cities, according to Embratur figures.

In the number two spot on the list of countries sending flights to Brazil was Argentina, with 13,817.

The number of flights from other Latin American countries rose by 28.1 percent over the past four years from 26,624 in 2010 to 34,107 in 2014, meaning that the region represents more than half the number of international flights headed for Brazil.

While the number of flights coming from Colombia, Chile, Panama and Barbados practically doubled during the period, countries such as Cuba, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic, which did not have direct air connections with Brazil, began offering them.

Flights from Asia and Oceania to Brazil grew by 87.32 percent over the four-year period, in large part due to the daily flight that Emirates airline began offering in 2012 between Dubai and Rio de Janeiro.

The public tourism agency admitted that the number of flights grew last year – in particular – due to the fact that Brazil was the 2014 World Cup host, and it is calculated that this trend will remain in place through 2016, when Rio de Janeiro will host the Olympics.

Brazil Tourism Board, www.visitbrazil.com