Organization of the II Meeting of the Brazilian Network of Solidarity and Community Tourism (TURISOL)

The Baggage Project Association was responsible for organizing the first meeting of the Brazilian Solidarity Tourism and Community Tourism Network (Turisol), held in Bahia in 2010. After a long period of inaction, in 2014 the association hired Raízes to rearticulate contacts, find partners and funders, and organize a new meeting. The aim was clear: to rekindle networking debates in community-based tourism.

The event, which took place between August 12 and 14 in Brasília, DF, brought together around 180 people. There were more than 50 people from different communities from the north to the south of the country; as well as operators and agencies, academics researching the subject, members of the Municipal, State, and Federal Public Authorities, Sebrae Nacional, the event’s sponsor for the second time, and other partners and those interested in community tourism.

Partnerships

The main organizational partners were the initiatives that took on the responsibility of managing the network alongside the Baggage Project in 2010. They were:

• Health and Happiness Project;
• Tucum Network;
• Welcome to the Colony;
• Pousada Uacari;
• Casa Grande Foundation.

The University of Brasilia (UnB) hosted the meeting and the junior tourism company, Polaris, was the executing arm. The Grãos de Luz and Griô initiative was a co-organizer, with the government of Bahia as one of the sponsors.

The other main sponsor of the event was SEBRAE Nacional.

The community and solidarity tourism event thus included many partners and collaborators in community tourism. It took place over three intense days of debates, workshops, lectures, world cafés, poster presentations, discussion tanks, music, and dance. Part of the funds were raised through crowdfunding on Garupa. The participation of some community members was funded by these collective fundraising efforts.

You can check out Raízes’ news and actions involved with the Turisol Network at this link.