Os descaminhos do ouro e o planejamento turístico: Uma estratégia para o desenvolvimento regional

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the progress and challenges of the Caminhos Verdes de Minas IGR in relation to the Descaminhos do Ouro as a regional tourism development strategy. Historically, the Descaminhos were routes taken by gold smugglers in the colonial era without the knowledge of the Portuguese Royal Crown, thus allowing the territories of this region to be built and produced through this fact, imbued with history, culture and unique meanings. Today, therefore, tourism can take advantage of this unique historical condition to build a strategic opportunity for the region's development through regional planning. The IGR, together with the Federal University of Viçosa, have already started a project aimed atmaking these routes a reality. For this reason, this work aimed to contribute to the studies already carried out in order to ensure greater clarity about the process of regional planning and development. The methodological procedures were exploratory and qualitative in nature, with a literature review, documentary survey and semi-structured interviews with the agents who changed the space. In general, the results indicate that the IGR acts in a planned way, still with a shortage of resources, but with little or almost no popular participation in the planning processes. The municipalities associated with the IGR participate in regional actions, but still not in such an effective and integrated way, given the challenges they face in their local management. The Descaminhos do Ouro project was designed and implemented through public-private partnerships, but still lacks the involvement and integration of the local community in decision-making in order to build a regional identity together.