May 9, 2022

07:05

Bruno Pacheco – From Cenarium Magazine*

MANAUS – One of the segments most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, tourism is responsible for encouraging and moving the economy, generating thousands of jobs throughout the country. The sector, celebrated this Sunday, 8, with the National Tourism Day, must walk side by side with culture, according to the AmazonasTur (Amazonas State Tourism Company), of the Government of Amazonas.

“Tourism and culture must go together for the promotion of a destination. That is why we value all the cultural events of the Amazon calendar and we are always talking to the tourism secretaries of each city, to jointly promote the festivities that attract tourists, whether national or local, which help to move jobs and income in the Amazon cities”, declared the lawyer Gustavo de Araújo Sampaio, secretary of the folder, when talking about the cultural richness of the State.

Sampaio, who took over AmazonasTur in April of this year in place of Sérgio Litaiff Filho, spoke to CENARIUM MAGAZINE about his main projects ahead of the secretariat and about his perspective about the sector in the capital and interior of the State, following the determination of governor Wilson Lima (União Brasil) to look for the demands of this region.

One of the actions, according to the secretary, is to put in the field the AmazonasTur team to make technical visits in each region, in order to map the tourist potentials and provide the necessary tools for the development, planning and strengthening of tourism in the State. In addition, Gustavo Sampaio states that his goal is to offer training courses to the municipalities.

“I have as a goal to expand the training courses offered to the municipalities; intensify the tourism promotion of the Amazon in the national and international scenarios; strengthen the dialogue with the aviation companies to expand our air network; besides other actions that were already in the Amazonastur radar, such as the progress of the infrastructure works in the Serra da Valéria and the Museu dos Bois, in Parintins; the expansion of the cities served by Tourism in Movement, and the realization of our Amazon Tourism Festival, for example. We will continue focusing on nature tourism, on our gastronomy and on our culture as our showcases to the world”, commented Gustavo Sampaio.

Betting on Green

Questioned about how to explore Green Tourism in Amazonas, due to the natural beauties and tours available in the region, Sampaio declared that AmazonasTur’s focus is to position the State as preferential for the practice of nature tourism.

“I believe that Amazonas already stands out as the green destination in Brazil and, with the recovery of the sector, our focus is to position our destination as the preferred one for the practice of nature tourism, which is the new trend among those who seek leisure travel in the post-pandemic. I see the moment as ideal to re-present the Amazon to the world, showing that we were born ready for the tourism opposite to mass tourism”, he emphasized.

Resumption

About the tourism resumption, Sampaio pointed out that the expectation is positive and also remembered that, in 2021, an exponential growth of the activity in Amazonas was pointed out, in the last four months of the year.

“For example, an increase of more than 45% in the invoicing of the service provider that lives from the tourism chain, which is a very important fact. Now, for 2022, with the relaxation of the restrictive measures and the increase in the flow of tourists in our state, the expectation is even more positive,” said the secretary.

Tourism Map

In Amazonas, four municipalities of the State were inserted in the New 2019-2021 Brazilian Tourism Map, by the Ministry of Tourism (MTur). In all, Amazonian cities make up the new map and were divided into seven tourist poles, being: the Alto Rio Negro, Alto Solimões, Amazon, Madeira, Middle Solimões, Saterê and Uatumã

The document aims to guide the definition of public policies and also to raise funds from the Ministry of Tourism for infrastructure works and the offer of professional qualification courses. For Sampaio, the close dialogue with the sector representatives in the cities, besides helping to include the municipalities in the map, allows the advancement for the development of tourist attractions and the promotion of the region.

“Amazonastur works the ground so that the municipalities can enter this MTur radar, instructing about the documentation, guiding the municipalities’ tourism service providers about tourism ordering, formatting new products, training and qualifying the workforce of these localities”.

(*) With the collaboration of journalist Ívina Mendonça – From Cenarium Magazine