The project is carried out by the Renova Foundation’s Tourism, Education and Culture program, which will offer training and qualifications for each region.
The activity is concentrated in three poles: Mariana (formed by the municipality of Mariana), Mid Doce River (which includes the cities of Marliéria and Governador Valadares) and Foz (formed by the communities of Regência, Povoação, Entre Rios , Areal, Comboios and Degredo, in Linhares, Espírito Santo).
With the support of the Renova Foundation and the Moore consultancy, Local Productive Arrangements (APLs) are being organized, with priority projects defined and strategic actions implemented, for the development of the sector in the region.
The Local Productive Arrangement brings together the main entrepreneurs and leaders of the tourism chain of each pole, in search of the development of the sector in each region, with its characteristics and structures. Based on the consultancy and training developed, the groups are strengthened and structured around their potential.
The work of technical assistance, consultancy and training allows the members of the groups to interact with other realities and experiences of tourism development, as was done with the technical mission carried out in the city of Recife (PE), in 2021; participate in important events in the sector, such as the Congress of the Brazilian Association of Ecotourism and Adventure Tourism Companies (ABETA); in addition to accessing important skills for the development of the destination and its businesses.
History and Qualifications
The project is conducted by the Renova Foundation’s Tourism, Education and Culture program, which, in 2020, surveyed the regions where tourist activity had been most impacted by the dam failure and which had the greatest potential for tourism development. Three regions were defined, which became the project’s hubs.
Each of the three hubs stands out in different tourist modalities. Mariana has cultural and adventure tourism. The Mid Doce River, in Marliéria, has ecotourism – in the Doce River State Park (PERD) – and rural tourism (horseback rides) and, in Governador Valadares, adventure tourism in the practice of free flight. Finally, in Foz do Rio Doce, Espírito Santo, village and sun and beach tourism are the highlights.
“Last year, we started a mobilization with tourism entrepreneurs and started meetings with representatives of each municipality, with the objective of drawing up a strategic plan for the tourist development of that municipality. In these meetings, entrepreneurs, municipalities and training agents were invited to form the groups. We work with training throughout the pandemic”, explains Regiane Assis, an analyst for the Tourism, Education and Culture program at the Renova Foundation.
One of the objectives of this work is the consolidation of Local Productive Arrangements and their governance, preparing the territory and its actors for the promotion and attraction of visitors, consolidating these hubs as relevant tourist destinations.
According to the coordinator of the Tourism, Education and Culture program at the Renova Foundation, Maria Cristina Aires, the proposal of the Local Productive Arrangements is “to structure a local production chain and train entrepreneurs and public management. The objective of this methodology is to make the Renova Foundation’s projects in local tourism sustainable”.