To build dreams and motivation and to live the daily life without leaving your land behind. This is one of the rural tourism roles, a form of resistance from the local farmers to stay on their land of origin, with chances to become an entrepreneur of a new business that will generate a flow of visitors and, by consequence, local development through the tourism supply chain.
At Resplendor, Minas Gerais state, we find an incipient demand, motivated by the passenger train from Vale Company and a landscape full of possibilities. The challenge was to generate income to the rural area and develop new businesses with a sustainable profile. For 16 months we supported local entrepreneurs from mapping possibilities to the creation of new businesses.
The phases of the project, one by one, can be checked below. This cycle was concluded last December.
Phase 1 – Mapping
Mapping the region and its surroundings is key to design the next phases. This phase made it possible to understand the local dynamics through the perspective of the inhabitants themselves, besides visualizing their potential for tourism. In the case of Resplendor we did 42 interviews, visited and mapped 49 touristic attractions, equipment and local events.
After that, 6 entrepreneurs were selected to receive support and capacity building to potentialize their businesses: DIM Restaurant (DIM meaning wonders from the countryside of Minas Gerais), Cachaçaria Dona Bem (Spirits producer), Sítio Sabores Marins (Rural Producers Association Limadouro), Sítio Vale Verde and Sítio Borel (both members of the Rural Producers Association ADEBRAS) and Top Bike.
Phase 2 – Inspiration and qualification
The next step was looking for references for capacity building for the businesses. A good strategy for that is benchmarking, which we have already spoken about in here in the blog. At this case we did four inspirational trips. We also promoted 118 hours of trainning, aiming technical qualification, improve service quality, develop entrepreneurial habilities, project management skills and networking.
Phase 3 – Prototyping and product innovation
The third step is directly connected to structuring the touristic sites and infrastructure. After all the capacity building, we started the product innovation and prototyping phase, designing what would be delivered to the public, with the implementation of the Touristic Adaptation Plan.
At Resplendor this was a really cool step. It included a bio construction workshop having as an experiential part building a dry toilet. It also inspired, for example, the creation of a community library with books that were not being used on a former idle space owned by one of the entrepreneurs. All that is beautifully illustrated on the Project video that summarizes the Community Social Entrepreneurship Program (PESC, in Portuguese) Resplendor. Check the video below.
Phase 4 – Market Access
The last phase, as important as the previous ones, is practical! Make it really happen, open the doors of the tourism business created and give access to the market. We did this first test with a familiarization trip involving four tour operators and three digital influencers, besides the technical team that was part of the whole process. The feedbacks we received were really positive! The group and the region seems ready to walk with their own feet.
At this phase was also created a communication plan with a destination brand, a touristic map, a printed folder, this video, and this website. Tell us if you don´t feel like visiting Resplendor? We invite you to go and Visit Resplendor.
This Project is na initiative from Vale Foundation, with whom we have the privilege of having developed other structuring projects of local development, such as Sabores do Morro, Flores do Carmo, Bordadeiras de Ipoema and PESC Periquito.
