COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM (CBT)
Community-Based Tourism (CBT) promotes the protagonism of communities in the processes of organizing, managing and implementing tourist itineraries in their traditional territories. This tourism model serves as a bridge between diverse cultural, productive and traditional activities, respecting the particularities of quilombola, indigenous and caiçara identities, while fostering the integration and appreciation of these identities. CBT not only preserves and celebrates cultural practices and traditional ways of life, but also strengthens the social cohesion and economic sustainability of the communities involved.
PROBLEM SOLVED
The Bocaina region is rich in exuberant natural and cultural attractions, which makes it an area with great potential for productive arrangements focused on tourism. However, these arrangements have been predominantly implemented under a predatory market logic, resulting in negative impacts on local communities. Real estate speculation, violence and disorderly use of land are some of the problems that emerge from this approach.
Understanding the way of life of traditional communities as the ethical, political and cultural foundation of solidarity-based production methods, Community-Based Tourism (CBT) presents itself as a productive arrangement capable of promoting sustainable, healthy and supportive development, based on ethnic and cultural diversity. CBT values and integrates the cultural practices and ways of life of communities, promoting a form of tourism that respects and strengthens these identities, while contributing to the social cohesion and economic sustainability of the communities involved.
SOLUTION ADOPTED
A mapping of existing community-based tourism routes in the territory was carried out, followed by mobilization and coordination between these routes through sharing in Community-Based Tourism (CBT), with the aim of organizing a joint center for marketing the routes. In addition, the Bocaina Observatory of Sustainable and Healthy Territories (OTSS) supports the formation of the Turisol Network – Brazilian Network for Solidarity and Community Tourism. As an incubator, the OTSS supports communities in developing and pricing tourism products, providing guidance to key people in each community, formulating and promoting routes, and implementing a permanent CBT support center in the territory. To this end, the team relies on the best practices in the sector, ongoing dialogue with the communities, and managing a broad network of partners.
The starting point for the work in Quilombo do Campinho was the expressed interest of the Quilombo do Campinho Residents Association (AMOQC) in qualifying the community's businesses and expanding their connection with the current tourism route. In addition, the aim was to discuss the positive and negative impacts of tourism on the community, establish principles and build consensus that would allow the development of TBC with participation and equity. Participatory planning methodologies focused on creativity, innovation and business design were used, allowing the group's challenges and the steps needed to meet them to be defined.
The TBC innovation workshops aim to qualify the community's TBC itinerary, improve the quality and attractiveness of existing tourist itineraries, increase the number of participating businesses, encourage the participation of more local businesses in the tourist itineraries, establish participation agreements in the itinerary, define clear rules and agreements for the participation of businesses in the tourist itinerary, identify problems and opportunities, map challenges and opportunities for the development of TBC in the community, identify thematic areas of interest, determine topics of interest to continue receiving support from the incubator, and empower and encourage the people involved, training and motivating community members to promote the desired changes in their context.
RESULT ACHIEVED
The Nhandereko Community-Based Tourism Network was established with the participation of 16 communities in the region, with the aim of strengthening the arrangements of the various destinations that make up the Network. In addition, eight CBT workshops and sharing sessions were held, each with around 30 participants, focused on structuring tourist itineraries. A pocket map of the region's CBT itineraries was developed, along with a web page dedicated to the Nhandereko CBT Network.
Recently, the Cairuçu APA Council, based on the Charter of Principles of the Nhandereko Community-Based Tourism Network, defined CBT as a community-led visitation management model that generates collective benefits. This model promotes intercultural experiences, quality of life, appreciation of the history and culture of these populations, as well as the sustainable use of resources in conservation units for recreational and educational purposes, incorporating indigenous and quilombo territories.