Demand for adventure tourism in Brazil increases – 04/05/2023 – É Logo Ali
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Since before the pandemic trapped everyone between four walls, the demand for adventure tourism and ecotourism already showed a more or less steep growth curve around the world. Research carried out by Cifs (Copenhague Institute for Future Studies) points out that, since the beginning of the last decade and with the aging of populations combined with the excessive digitalization of everyday life, the search for destinations with a less urban profile, worldwide, it only tends to increase. In Brazil, it is no different.
According to data from the Ministry of Tourism, trips to nature or ecotourism were the preference of 25.6% of domestic leisure trips accounted for in 2021 – that is, as soon as the gates of social isolation began to open. Among international tourists, 18.6% declared, in 2019, that they came to the country motivated by destinations of this profile or even adventure, “the highest rate in the last five years”, according to Fabiana Oliveira, general coordinator of Products and Experiences Ministry Tours.
The available information, however, can be much more timid than real life. This is because, according to Abeta (Brazilian Association of Ecotourism and Adventure Tourism Agencies), the informality of businesses operating in this segment is estimated at around 70%, including guides, informal inns and local agents.
“We are only sure that the growth in demand for adventure tourism was atypical, even surprising, because our associates came to us concerned that places in their regions that received ten, twenty visitors in a weekend, suddenly started to receive 100 or 200, generating problems for the municipalities, both regarding garbage and demand greater than supply, as well as the safety of the visitors themselves, which they were not prepared to meet”, says Luiz Del Vigna, from the association and also a researcher at Cifs.
With an eye on this demand, the Ministry of Tourism, in partnership with the Ministry of the Environment, Embratur and ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation), is finalizing a report on the country’s conservation units, focusing mainly on parks national. But another partnership also runs in parallel with the Rede Brasileira de Trilhas de Longo Curso, inspired by the North American model of the Appalachian Trail, or Trilha Apalache, the longest and most signposted trail on the planet, which runs 3,500 kilometers through 14 states on the east coast of the United States between the states of Georgia and Maine.
“We seek to adapt the concept to the Brazilian reality”, explains Fabiana, adding that there are already 250 long-distance trails implemented in the country, totaling 15 thousand kilometers, identified. And, by next June, the ministry plans to launch the Boletim Trilhas do Brasil, with information on something between 30 and 40 trails that already have the standard signage of yellow footprints, plus the symbol that characterizes each one, and information for tourists about route, characteristics and other essential data for each one to choose their perrengues.
In addition, in the South American context, the Minister of Tourism, Daniela Carneiro, presented at the beginning of the year, in partnership with Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile, the brand “Visit South America: a place, several worlds”, which according to the seeks “in an integrated way, to promote and position the destinations of these countries internationally, with a focus on natural, gastronomic and hospitality attractions”. Specifically in the nature tourism segment, the creation of an integrated route was defined, including natural destinations in Mercosur countries, Bolivia and Chile, through the “Southern Natural Route”.
Despite the initiative to promote this type of tourism, the Ministry does not have any assessment of the economic impact it may represent. “There is not yet, in any federal agency, a culture focused on accounting for this impact profile”, admits Fabiana, relying on the example of international initiatives.
Among these international cases, certainly, the Camino de Santiago, in Spain, stands out, which in 2022 registered a record number of six million pilgrims covering part or all of the more than 800 kilometers of the Pyrenees mountains, on the border with France , to the city of Santiago de Compostela. According to data from the Federation of Friends of the Camino de Santiago, in 2018, even before the record, the most famous trail in Europe already represented more than 280 million euros (approximately R$ 1.5 billion at the updated exchange rate) annually —and it just grows. And do you know the most interesting thing? Brazilian pilgrims are the fifth largest contingent by nationality of this crowd.
“We want this hiker to stay in Brazil, to travel our trails”, says Hugo de Castro, president of the Brazilian Network of Long Course Trails. “We have everything for that, rich nature, good food, maybe not so good wines yet, but we’re getting there”, he jokes.
Castro also recalls that, in the United States, activities of nature, according to the US Department of Commerce, moved around US$ 460 billion (R$ 2.3 trillion) in 2019, or 2.1% of GDP (Product Gross Domestic) of the country, a greater participation than sectors such as mining and chemical industry. The Appalachian Trail from above, alone, moved US$ 4 billion (R$ 20 billion) that year.
“The great trend all over the world is really slow travel, the digital detox through contact with nature”, emphasizes Castro, remembering that it is this different tourist, who does not look for traditional urban circuits, who ends up capillarizing the resources of more intense way. “The scope of their expenses is much greater than that of the weekend tourist, because those who are on a long-distance trail are spending on places and added services that are not covered in traditional itineraries”, he adds.
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