Creation, strengthening and governance of networks

Mutual support can help, for example, helping small entrepreneurs to go through adversity. Networking creates advantages such as making collective purchases, attracting joint customers, and integrated communication, among other things. This can be seen in the case of the collective “Casa do Frufru”, from Periquito, in the rural area of Minas Gerais, which we helped to create. It is made up of women who are Individual Micro Entrepreneurs (MEI) who come together to generate more competitiveness and reach the market as a unique brand.

Collaborating is a matter of survival today, and helps strengthen smaller players.

There are several possible ways to collaborate. It can be an associative, cooperative or collective format; an informal or trade network (in the case of tourism); an official governance body with State connections, among other possibilities.

For tourism, this is particularly important because cooperation is what will create competitiveness for the destination.

We always tell entrepreneurs that they are not competitors, even though they might be involved in the same business activity.

By cooperating, they strengthen their destinations, enabling them to better compete with others.

This understanding makes a huge difference in making a destination successful, competitive, able to attract more tourists as well as increasing their permanence.