Tourism Minister for Brazil Vinicius Lages said he is not worried about Rio de Janeiro’s recent increase in violence hurting attendance of the 2016 Olympic Games.

Although overall levels of violence in Brazil have dropped, Rio has had a recent increase in insecurity by way of stray bullet fatalities and mass robberies along its beaches, The Associated Press reports.

Lages does not believe this increase will have a negative impact. He cites studies that, according to him, show insecurity will not be a major worry for visitors to the second largest city in Brazil

"There are other places in the world that suffer from circumstances or moments such as these without it scaring away tourists," he explained.

Lages added that Paris, despite last month's terrorist attacks, seems to be alright.

"In all the studies we've done, security does not appear to be the problem," he said.

Since the new year, nearly three dozen people in Rio have been hit by stray bullets as a major police crackdown on criminal gangs has led to gun battles hurting bystanders. At the same time, hundreds of officers have been deployed onto the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema to stop the mass robberies that have caused much panic over the past few weekends.

"We have to work hard to show that the Brazilian state is prepared," Lages said.

Despite the crime wave, Brazil is also going through a massive drought, which will definitely affect the region and could lead to water rationing.

Lages is optimistic about what the upcoming games will do for the Latin American country.

"Rio will without doubt rise in the rankings after the Olympics, given all the investment, the improvement in services and expanding offers,” Lages said.

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