Caminho das Missões: uma experiência de desenvolvimento nas Missões, Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

This work brings a thought about tourism and development, and the importance of phenomena as historic and cultural tourism in the development process of a region. The territory studied is located in the Mission Region, in Rio Grande do Sul. The analysis is focused on the Mission Path, a tourism route which has as characteristic to integrate a tourism productive chain along a region characterized by agricultural activity, but that also possess the only World Heritage Site in Southern Brazil – The Ruins of São Miguel das Missões. The importance of Mission Path, touristic product formatted in 2000 is because throughout its options of itineraries with up to 800 km, works along with many service providers, making a wide net of enterprises in the region. Since the beginning of the Path, the entrepreneurs estimate that they have already met more than 5000 tourists, generating service and employments diversification in the region. This dissertation is based on practical, applied, exploratory and qualitative efforts, with techniques of bibliographic and integrative review, structured questionnaires with tourists and narrated interviews with regional actors who act in tourism to the characterization of the object and the practices surrounding them. It brings, as a result, the understanding about needs, on one hand, the increase of demand to consume the product, and on the other hand, the perception about the role this object in analysis in the generation of new business and income in the region. It is presented elements about the set made up by culture and religion, organized through tourism, what requires from public and private managers, planning and attendance in order to maximize cultural, social and economic benefits, in an integrated and sustainable way to the region development.