Tourist routes strategies of local development

              © PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural. ISSN 1695-7121
Vol. 12 N.o 3. Special Issue. Págs. 539-548. 2014
www .pasosonline.org
1. Introduction
Tourism today is seen as an economic solution
for many municipalities, and it often acts as an
incentive to non­‑agricultural
activities in mar-ginalized
rural areas. The reason for this role
and potential of rural tourism can be found in
the return of “urban man” to the countryside. In
the 1980s, rural life became a tourist attraction,
not only for environmentalists and nature lovers,
but also for urban families seeking a life free from
exposure to contamination by chemicals and to
the noises and disturbances of urban spaces. Ac-cording
to Kosmaczewska (2008), agritourism has
the capacity to influence the income of the local
community, but there is difficulty in understanding
the difference between agriculture and tourism.
For Kosmaczewska (2008), tourism in rural areas
needs to bring results to the community as well
as to the visitor.
Due to this new demand, rural tourism became
a major promoter of sustainable local development,
helping to improve the quality of life of rural po-pulations.
This activity meets the need for new
alternatives to keep man living with dignity in
rural spaces, at the same time preventing the
disorganized rise of urban agglomerations without
the equipment and services, which allow living
Abstract: Tourism as an economic activity can contribute to the social, economic and cultural development
of a region. In order to understand these dynamics, it is important not only to introduce the guiding prin-ciples
of development, but also to think about strategies to implement and develop the activity in specific
regions. The positive and negative factors of tourism can be shown based on the peculiar characteristics of
each area. However, rather than a general discussion of the problem, this study presents the planning and
management strategies of tourism of the Vale dos Vinhedos (Valley of Vineyards) Wine Route, which is pre-sented
as a case study of designing tourist routes yielding local development.
Key Words: tourism strategy, local development, Vale dos Vinhedos, tourist route., rural tourism.
Rutas turísticas y estrategias de desarrollo local
Resumen: El turismo como actividad económica puede contribuir al desarrollo social, económico y cultural
de una región. Para entender estas dinámicas, es importante no sólo para introducir los principios rectores
del desarrollo, sino también para pensar en estrategias para implementar y desarrollar la actividad en regio-nes
específicas. Los factores positivos y negativos del turismo se pueden mostrar en base a las características
peculiares de cada área. Sin embargo, en lugar de una discusión general del problema, este estudio presenta
las estrategias de planificación y gestión del turismo en la Ruta del Vino del Valle de los Viñedos como un
estudio de caso de estudo de rutas turísticas que visan el desarrollo local.
Palabras Clave: estrategia de turismo, desarrollo local, Vale dos Vinhedos, ruta turística, turismo rural.
Tourist routes strategies of local development
Cláudia Brazil Marques*
Centro Universitário do Vale do Taquari­‑
UNIVATES (Brasil)
Carlos Honorato S. Santos **
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (Brasil)
Cláudia Brazil Marques, Carlos Honorato S. Santos
* Mestrado em Turismo pela Universidade de Caxias do Sul (2007). Doutoranda em Desenvolvimento Regional pela
Universidade de Santa Cruz­‑
UNISC (Brasil). E­‑mail:
cbmarque@yahoo.com.br
** Doutorado em Engenharia da Produção pela Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (1998); atualmente é professor da
Universidade de Santa Cruz do Sul e da Universidade Estadual do Rio Grande do Sul (Brasil. E­‑mail:
chonorato@terra.com.br
PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural. 12 N° 3. Special Issue. Mayo 2014 ISSN 1695-7121
540 Tourist routes strategies of local development
according to the standard of living criteria recom-mended
by the United Nations program, which
looks at the HDI (Human Development Index)
of each country. However, the tourist demand for
rural spaces also exposed the general difficulty
for inhabitants of rural areas to supply services
and products with the quality usually expected
by tourists.
The rural tourist experience in particular must
be understood as the overall experience of a large
number and diversity of resources, attractions,
services, people and environments offered by a
destination, not all principally designed for tourist
use, but all of which impact on the experience and
are potentially sought out and valued by tourists.
(Ribeiro and Marques, 2002)
The purpose of this study is based on Mint-zberg
et al. (2000) theory of intended, emerging
and fulfilled strategies, to find out whether the
proposals for the management of regional tourism
development in the Vale dos Vinhedos Wine Route
fit this model. The article is organized as follows:
first, the theoretical foundation for strategic theo-ries
and regional tourism development is presented
and then the case of the Vale dos Vinhedos Wine
Route is analyzed as a model to apply development
strategies according to the concepts formulated by
Mintzberg et al. (2000).
The study aims to discuss theoretically the
mechanisms responsible for the efficiency and
effectiveness of the wine tourism economy and
therefore considers the segments responsible for
the sustainable economic development of the Vale
dos Vinhedos Wine Route. The methodology was
exploratory, based on a descriptive case study,
with qualitative research. Data were collected
in 2007 through convenience interviews with 15
winemakers and agents of tourism in the Valley of
the Vineyards Route, with representatives from the
public sector (Secretary for Development, Tourism
Secretary and the Deputy Mayor of Bento Gonçal-ves
– Rio Grande do Sul) and representatives of the
sector entities under study, namely APROVALE,
ATUASERRA, EMBRAPA­‑Grape
and Wine, which
are wine producing associations which promote
local development.
2. Rural Tourism
This paper follows Holloway’s concept of tourism
(1994), which defines it mainly as an industry
supported by a chain of several intervening sectors
that intersect and complement each other. When
tourism in rural areas is analyzed, it is consi-dered
here as a non­‑agricultural
activity that is
supported by agricultural activities. According to
Schneider (2005) the growth of non­‑agricultural
activities in rural environment is contributing
to the development of pluri­‑activity
based rural
households. It should be pointed out that tourism is
not the only activity that can complete and reinforce
agricultural activities, as is the case of services,
communications, handicrafts and others, depending
on local peculiarities. All of them, especially rural
tourism, create new jobs and redesign the rural
economic space itself. Rural tourism induces the
growth of non­‑agricultural
occupations in the rural
environment (Silva, 1997).
According to Martinéz and Monzonís (2000: 10),
rural tourism can be described as an activity that
is able to join the characteristics of supply and the
motivation of tourist demand. Thus, they define
it as tourist activity performed in a rural space,
consisting of a demand­‑oriented
offer integrated
with leisure, whose main motivation is the con-tact
with the rural surroundings combined with
relationships with local society. Silva et al. (1998)
believe that rural tourism generates occupations
that complement agricultural activities and it
becomes part of the daily life on farms, whose
extent depending on the specific farm.
Rural tourism plays a major role in the re-tention
of inhabitants in rural spaces, since it
helps keep individuals professionally active, not
only in agricultural activities, but especially in
rural spaces. It is thus an important factor to
reduce migratory flow to the urban areas. This
new tendency, according to Ramon (1995: 98), is
called neo­‑ruralism.
In Brazil, the rural tourism
program is being implemented by EMBRATUR,
the Brazilian tourism authority, and its purpose
is to regulate this tourism activity, whose focus of
attraction is the relationship between man and the
rural environment. This type of leisure/tourism
is reflected in weekend trips, in which the tourist
travels more often for short stays.
According to Beni (2002: ), in a business­‑oriented
analysis, rural tourism is the name given to travel
to rural spaces in programmed or spontaneous iti-neraries,
staying overnight or not, in order to enjoy
the scenery and the facilities of the countryside.
The author stresses that roads, routes, and forms of
development are rarely compatible and comparable,
since in each country, region, municipality or place
a number of factors interact: economic, social,
political and cultural, which over time are molded
into a specific, unique form of tourism, which is
precisely why they are so attractive.
The perspective of this rural new world creates
a content which provides sustainability to local
development, seen as “the actions of man within
a specific territory, providing appropriate direction
to building equipment and facilities, thus avoiding
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Cláudia Brazil Marques, Carlos Honorato S. Santos 541
the negative effects on resources, which destroy
them or reduce their attractiveness.” (Ruschmann,
1997: 165). If new alternatives for local develop-ment
are possible, a new rural territory can be
observed for production and consumption by the
urban­‑industrial
society, where the countryside
has been characterized as a reference of a good
place to live. Thus, new development opportunities
arise, such as leisure associated with living in
the natural environment, like through ecological
tourism, appreciating rural handicrafts, visiting
family agribusinesses, wine­‑tasting
and others.
In this way, a new process began to sustain the
development of rural spaces where the elements of
local culture are taken over by new values, habits
and techniques.
The development process began to be seen not
only as basically economic, but also as political,
cultural and geographic, within a social context
of production of wealth, life in society, cultural
exchange relations, and others (Beni, 2002). Thus,
government strategies began to include forms of
social control, with the crucial participation of
the actors in the process of defining productive
activities within the geographic/social/economic
territory.
2.1. Strategy and Planning
Mintzberg (Mintzberg et al., 2000:125) defines
strategy broadly and eclectically, emphasizing
that the definition cannot be simplified and needs
multiple approaches. Therefore, he proposes five
definitions, which he calls “the 5 Ps of strategy”:
Plan, Ploy, Pattern, Position and Perspective. In
another work (Mintzberg et al., 2000), the same
author catalogues ten different views on the process
of strategy, or ten schools to formulate a strategy,
namely: design, planning, positioning, entre-preneurial,
cognitive, learning, power, cultural,
environmental and configuration.
Therefore, the strategic plan is formulated to
allow the company to position itself in its environ-ment.
Given this complementariness, strategy is
described by Henderson (1989: 8) as the deliberate
search for an action plan to develop and adjust the
competitive advantage of a company (a concept
of competition that originates in positioning). In
strategy as a perspective, Mintzberg (1996:15)
looks into the organization, into the minds of its
strategists and upwards to the great vision of
the company. The content is not only the position
chosen, but also the rooted (and shared) way of
seeing the world.
Ohmae (1998: 55) states that in developing
the strategy it is important to take competition
into account, but not to put it first and foremost.
According to the author, strategy does not mean
defeating competition, but working to understand
the inherent needs of the customers and, conse-quently,
developing an appropriate product to meet
those needs, not only an improved version of the
competitors’ products.
Ansoff and McDonell (1993: 295) believe that,
especially since the external environment of the
company has become increasingly changeable and
discontinuous compared to the past, the importance
of strategic management has grown, because the
objectives, by themselves, are not sufficient as rules
of decision to help guide the company to adapt to
new challenges, threats and opportunities. The
State’s intervention in this new rural space must
be strategic in the same sense as the 5 Ps suggested
by Mintzberg et al. (2001), and reposition this
space needs to take into account both agricultural
and non­‑agricultural
activities. For this purpose,
it has to create the infrastructural conditions for
local development.
2.2. From rural development to local development
The study of innovation propensity begins with
the work of Schumpeter (Theory of Economic De-velopment,
1982), which discusses the action of
innovation as creating breakdown processes in the
economic system, affecting the equilibrium of the
circular flow. This breakdown process (introduction
of innovation) is caused by the entrepreneur who
has the ability to be the first to introduce new com-binations
of productive means, thus transforming
the established circular flow.
Therefore, innovations in Schumpeter’s condi-tions
(1982) are represented by new combinations of
production, which arise discontinuously, a comple-tely
revolutionary process in the status of economic
development, thus replacing the traditional form
of competition (price competition). The former is
considered a steady state and gradual process.
Economic development, on the other hand, is a
phenomenon of spontaneous, discontinuous change
in the flow channels, a disturbed equilibrium, which
forever alters and displaces the previous state of
equilibrium (Schumpeter, 1982: 47).
Rural development in its classical interpretation
has been identified as a “Green Revolution”1, by
incrementing chemical and biological processes of
agricultural products, based on the development of
large­‑scale
production factors. This process caused
the industrialization of small farms in order to
respond to increasingly demanding and dynamic
mass consumption. In this scenario, reproduction
characteristics of the “mercantilist system” can be
identified, focusing on international, unilateral and
very aggressive trade. In developing countries, this
PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural. 12 N° 3. Special Issue. Mayo 2014 ISSN 1695-7121
542 Tourist routes strategies of local development
meant to export all possible economic resources
produced. In this sense, the only function of the
State was to foster agricultural productivity in
order to meet the demand for major agricultural
commodities, without much concern for the social
wellbeing of the marginalized populations who,
for several reasons, had not been touched by the
“Green Revolution” that began in the 1950s.
The possibility of development being seen
from a local perspective appeared as a new way
of promoting more sustainable mechanisms to
maintain the community’s economy. The strategies
then became finding or arousing local vocations,
developing specific potentials, fostering external
research using local productive advantages. Here,
the concept of “local” should not be confused with
small, and it does not necessarily refer to dimi-nishing
or reducing. On the contrary, “local” is
not a micro space, and it can be a Municipality,
which is equivalent to a county, or even a region
including several municipalities (Presidência da
República do Brasil, 1998: 4).
Thus, it uses the endogenous resources and
potentials; it seeks to stimulate the participation
and involvement of local populations, promoting an
effort to bring together several interests of different
interveners. Along similar lines, Sen (1999: 52)
refers to development as an “essentially friendly”
process, which may be exemplified by beneficial
exchanges, the work of social security nets, political
liberties or social development, or one or the other
combination of these supporting activities.
In this sense, development is essentially a
strategy for interrelated actions, in which the
nature of the disequilibrium process is overcome
by the equilibrium of the trajectory of the main
economic and social variables: “From this perspec-tive,
people have to be seen as actively involved
[…] in shaping their own destiny, and not only
as passive beneficiaries of the fruits of ingenious
development programs (Sen, 1999: 71)”. On the
other hand, according to Souza (1999), in a more
traditional perspective of the economy, development
involves qualitative changes in people’s way of
life, institutions and productive structures. In
this sense, development is characterized by the
transformation of a modern, efficient economy,
together with the improvement of the way of life
of the population as a whole. This discussion is
coherent with a new concept of sustainability,
which studies simultaneously economic, social and
environmental concepts of sustainability.
There are several approaches to local develop-ment,
such as industrial districts, localized produc-tive
systems and innovative procedures. However,
the common trait among them is that these are
experiences of development based on endogenous
forces, where the institutions and local authorities
play their own economic roles, independent of the
central State (or of other instances above them).
The local economy seeks its dynamics in factors
that are peculiar to it, from its past, with roots
in local history, often in geophysical conditions,
but also in cultural traits and technical­‑artisanal
wisdom rooted in the social­‑territorial
unit.
The local actors (persons and institutions) play
a crucial role in a context in which the economic
logic is not always dominant. Cooperative practices
and collective initiatives have been cited in the
literature as decisive factors to strengthen the
local social tissue, often providing economic ad-vantages,
which would not be obtained otherwise.
The strength of local development derives from the
social tissue as a whole, since it is based on the
human aptitudes filtered through historical, social
and natural factors. As a matter of fact,
(...) the experiences of local development show
the local collectivities’ capacity to adapt to the
impositions of internationalization of competition
based on their potential for organization. It is
found that there are very local organizations that
respond to the uniformity of behaviors caused
by globalization of exchanges, and allow finding
more effective forms of enhancing wealth (...)”
(Pecqueur, 1996: 19).
In the view of Sengenberger (1993: 355), local
development is a new proposal for socioeconomic
leverage, where thanks to a better use of resources,
improved collaboration among companies, skilled
workers for endogenous demand, and other factors,
local economies can promote comparative advanta-ges,
responding to the unavoidable imperatives of
efficiency and innovation. According to this author,
local development transcends immediate economic
interests, insofar as it mobilizes citizens to par-ticipate
in the social, political and cultural life of
the region, helping strengthen regional identity.
3. The Vale dos Vinhedos Wine Route: a
strategy integrated to local development
A wine region is a geographic area where grapes
are grown and harvested on a large scale in order
to obtain their derived products such as juice,
wine and raisins. Wineries currently assume the
technological processes for harvesting, pressing
and vinification. In Brazil, the efforts of the grape
growers have resulted in the expansion of the grape
growing and winemaking industry.
Vale dos Vinhedos is known for the valleys that
constitute its natural and man­‑shaped
landsca-pe.
This region is located in the Serra Gaúcha
Mountains, between the municipalities of Bento
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Cláudia Brazil Marques, Carlos Honorato S. Santos 543
Gonçalves, Garibaldi and Monte Belo do Sul. Cur-rently,
the municipality of Bento Gonçalves has
four districts and the last to be created, in 1990,
was Vale dos Vinhedos. An area was separated
from Monte Belo do Sul, which had not yet become
emancipated from Bento Gonçalves, together with
another area belonging to the district seat, to form
this new district.
Italian immigrants who came to Brazil seeking
lands and prosperity first settled in the valley.
They farmed the land and their life in the region
was not characterized only by grains, vegetables
and livestock. They brought many cultural ele-ments
with them, including growing grapes, wine
making and drinking. A characteristic of the Vale
dos Vinhedos Wine Route (Figure 1) is that it con-centrates
some of the main wineries in Brazil, both
as companies and as cooperatives, as well as small
and medium­‑sized
wineries, agribusinesses, family
farms (mostly grape growing) and an expanding
organization of tourism around wine production
and the rural landscape. A structure to promote the
image of wine in association with the rural (agri-cultural
and ecological) landscape and gastronomy
is identified as a planning and positioning strategy.
This seeks to strengthen both the tourism industry
directly, and grape growing and winemaking in
particular, which depend partly on the same thing,
in their promotional strategies. In 1995, in order
to add potential to the development and planning
strategies of the tourist economy in the region,
APROVALE2 was founded aiming at furthering
tourist activity and the competitiveness of the
wineries in the region, and to protect the social
and cultural heritage of the Route.
According to Aprovale, Vale dos Vinhedos is
the right route for people who wish to learn about
the grape and wine culture. Achieving the Seal of
Indication of Origin of Vale dos Vinhedos (I.P.V.V.)3
ensures the original quality of what is produced
in the region, distinguishing it from the others.
Only wines made from Vale dos Vinhedos grapes
and bottled at the source can use the seal, and
they must also be approved in tests performed
by a group of specialists consisting of specialists
from EMBRAPA­‑
Grap and Wine (the Brazilian
Agency for Agriculture ­‑
Grapes and Wine), and
APROVALE.
Figure 1. Map of the Vale dos Vinhedos.
Source: www.aprovale.com.br, 2012.
PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural. 12 N° 3. Special Issue. Mayo 2014 ISSN 1695-7121
544 Tourist routes strategies of local development
Thanks to the work of APROVALE and entrepre-neurs
in the winemaking sector, together with the
actions of the government and the local community,
the valley and its products have received the Re-gistration
of Protected Designation of Origin. This
strategy shows that local stakeholders seek a high
standard of quality (Mintzberg, 1996). Theoretically,
the importance assigned to the quality of products
produced in the region improves competitiveness
and strengthens the winemaking industry. Looking
at it from this perspective, the strategy utilized
may develop certain competencies present in
the Route, which tend to support or redirect this
pattern, based on the resources and competencies
developed and controlled by the wineries associated
with “APROVALE”, and later in the competitive
environment in which they are positioned.
Enhancing the production of local goods based
on territorial resources may make the economic
tissue more dynamic (bringing back traditional
activities, stimulating new jobs) and also help
reinforce its identity, bringing the population
closer to the territory. At the same time, the need
arose to encourage consumption of these products.
Commercialization began for this purpose. Forms
of promotion, dissemination and distribution were
organized. Based on this example, one may conclude
that once the regions’ value is acknowledged, the
population seeks ways to render their resources
more profitable, taking an active role and interve-ning
in the development process of their territory.
The tourism development strategy of the Vale
dos Vinhedos Wine Route is clearly based on a
rural space where values and identities that de-termine
local communities are still preserved, due
to the culture introduced and maintained alive
basically by Italian immigrants. In this context of
development, visibly, the region’s agriculture has
taken on a multifunctional role, not only offering
consumers agricultural products, but also including
other roles involving the integration of diverse
economic activities.
Taking a different look at “development“, and
considering the individual, rural areas might be
considered potential sites for industrialization
(agribusiness) and social development. This not
only provides better quality of life for those who
remain in rural areas, it also increases the potential
provision of products for urban areas. Development
requires the rational use of resources. This state-ment
involves the importance of territories as a
support for the effective management of natural,
cultural, human and economic resources. Territories
cannot be taken as a simple geographic reality, a
physical support of life. Enhancing means ackno-wledging
and using. For instance, on the Vale do
Vinhedos Route, an action strategy of public policies
that can be identified is local development, where
the social relationships of production actually occur.
Thus, the advantage of a country, region or loca-lity
is acquired in relation to its learning capacity,
which is the essential condition for the process of
innovation and consequent development. These
aspects indicate the importance of economic and
non­‑economic
factors in the learning, innovation
and competition processes that are rooted in each
locality, immersed in the local culture.
The public sector initiatives for the region can
be classified according to Mintzberg (1996), as
training, structuring and business strategies,
according to the summary table 1:
According to a report by the municipal gover-nment
representatives (as transmitted in the
interviews held on May 29th, 2007 and July 3rd,
2006), these actions have been implemented and
are being monitored by the evaluation of local actors
and visitors. Analyzing the information, giving
more relevance to the literature by Mintzberg et
al. (2000), it could be concluded that the Vale dos
Vinhedos Wine Route still lacks strategic actions
to promote local development. It is noted that the
emerging and most significant initiatives have
been taken by private enterprises and institutions
connected to the wine and tourism industry in the
region (Table 1).
According to Table 1, the elements necessary for
sustainable economic development, it is necessary
to invest in training, in public policy structures
and in promoting local business. In Brazil, the
Ministry of Tourism conducted a study to assess
the competitiveness of tourist destinations. This
study encourages development, which evaluated
the structure of tourism destinations under five
macro dimensions: infrastructure, tourism, public
policy, economics and sustainability (Barbosa,
2002). As shown in Table 1, the results of the
research in the Vale de Vinhedos Wine Route, it
is clear that the participation of local actors is still
incipient, regarding the potential of collaborating
with supporting institutions and the government.
Thus, it reflects the structural conditions and the
strategies for promoting business.
Thus, in the strategies chosen, the interaction of
the actors with their peers needs to be stimulated,
and then coordinated with the State, research/
teaching institutions, and the players within the
value chain of tourism and wine production. Only
with this collaboration amongst central local
stakeholders and based on endogenous resources,
one may yield sustainable development (Saxena
et al., 2008).
Here, it becomes clear that the local development
model is in fact to be structured based on the local
potential, and not by central planning or exogenous
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Cláudia Brazil Marques, Carlos Honorato S. Santos 545
forces, but the structure is now developed through
a process already set by local actors, through broa-dening
the base of autonomous decisions (Boisier,
2005). Therefore, the strength of local development
comes from the whole social fabric as a central
part of human skills, filtered by historical, social
and natural factors.
However, the role of the state in the Route’s
political and administrative status happens to be
one of the decisive factors for the local development
initiatives. It is also critical to strategic bargaining
between local socio­‑economic
actors (business as-sociations,
financial institutions, advisory centers
for companies, universities and research institutes
and development agencies, among others), to seek
joint access to new technological innovations and
organizational and productive advantages in the
business context. Local development was considered
based on Figure 2, showing local development as
depending on other sectors.
The interviews were conducted in the period
May­‑July
2007 with the residents of the Vale dos
Vinhedos. The questions were semi­‑structured,
sent via e­‑mail
and answered by representatives
of ATUASERRA, APROVALE, and representative
of the secretary of the public sector in Bento Gon-çalves,
RS, and tourism agents. Through the data,
we can observe the behavior of the main actors
involved in local perspectives of local development.
Figure 2, shows the involved segments of actions
and reactions in the face of potential and latent
needs in the Vale dos Vinhedos: The actions of the
private sector represented here by companies in
the wine industry and the tourism sector in the
region; educational and research institutions and
entities of the wine industry and tourism; and
followed by proposals for public policy of the State
Summary Table 1. Structuring and business strategies
Training Structure Business
Activities that promote the
community’s sensibility for
tourism;
Dissemination and institutional
promotion of the attractions of
the region and the itinerary for
tourism on the Vale dos Vinhedos
Wine Route using videos, folders,
lectures and film;
Technical and administrative
support to perform an inventory
of tourism assets in the region, in
partnership with the University
of Caxias do Sul.
Preparing the structure of the
Rural Master Plan;
Adapting infrastructure services
such as water supply in the
localities, public lighting and
paved municipal roads;
Restoring and painting the
columns at the side of roads and
highways;
Supporting the businesses,
especially wineries, making
access easier
Support for cultural projects such
as the hot spiced wine
(“ quentão”) festival,
and the Vale dos Vinhedos choir;
Negotiation of a partnership with
the Visa credit card company.
Source: adapted by the authors, based on Mintzberg (1996).
Figure 2. Local development as depending on other sectors
Source: Authors, 2010
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546 Tourist routes strategies of local development
to encourage the wine and tourism economy in the
Vale dos Vinhedos.
The analysis of the interviews show that private
enterprise and the grape growing and winemaking
industry bodies provide strong support to local
development, but that government initiatives
are insufficient. At the same time, government
support is also seen to be deficient, followed by
weak support from the institutions and bodies
of the grape growing and winemaking sector to
private enterprise, as seen in figure 2. One of the
main goals of planning in tourism is to organize
integrated opportunity spaces in order to create
a complete product and thus develop a marketing
differential. According to Smith (1988: 85), tourism
as a product is a composition of everything that
can be consumed, tried, observed and appreciated
during a trip.
Vale dos Vinhedos offers its tourist products in
the form of routes, identified as “tourist routes”4
which are no longer a novelty in the world of leisure
options, in recent years. However, the configuration
of space is important in tourism development as a
possibility of producing enchantment, fantasy and
fulfillment, since objectively space only exists in
its relationship with human awareness. In this
sense, tourists consume a global product that is the
result of travel experience as a whole. The offer of
this global product results in the intervention of
a network responsible for producing tourism by­‑products
(accommodation, transport, restaurants,
attractions), which, as a whole, constitute the
different components of the tourism product from a
global perspective. Staying at a hotel, having a meal
at a regional restaurant, visiting the museum and
the places where tourists receive information, such
as the tourist information center, or purchasing
handicrafts at local shops, are a few examples of
by­‑products
consumed by tourists during their
stay in a given region.
Consequently, the products, goods or services
that a municipality or region can offer to visitors,
because of their structure, complexity and hetero-geneity,
compose an ensemble of economic, social
and cultural activities. Likewise, it is important to
emphasize that tourism planning must be carefully
carried out in a region in order to avoid needless
expenses, local imbalances and negative social and
cultural consequences.
The place is regarded as the result of the cluster
configuration of social relations. It is also the place
where culture and other features are fixed in a
not transferable manner. Bava (1996) emphasizes
that the endogenous development born out of the
internal forces of the community, also constitutes
a whole, with ecological, cultural, social, econo-mic,
institutional and political dimensions, and
that the goal of action should be to integrate all
these dimensions. However, the support of local
development means not only enhancing business
performance, but also the ability of local actors to
undertake coordinated action in pursuit of common
strategies.
However, the peculiarity of developing wine routes
consists in potentiating the tourist activity through
the setting into value of wine production, often cen-tered
around the associated habits, customs, climate,
traditions, culture and landscape. This leads to the
need of assuring the coordination between the various
dimensions of the experience and corresponding
actors involved in all segments of the economy with
a market­‑oriented
perspective. This idea fits into the
concept of sustainable local development.
In addition to being a space for environmental
conservation, country life began to be seen by those
responsible for framing public policies also as an
opportunity to create new forms of work and income
for the population segments that live there, and who
generally do not have the necessary qualification
to become part of the expanding urban sectors or
may, indeed, not wish to move away from their land.
The position of the development proposal for
Vale dos Vinhedos is based on the interrelationship
of economic activities around the wine produc-tion
process, which is also multifaceted, trying
to integrate two main activities: grape growing
and winemaking and tourism. These sectors may
enhance not only economic prosperity, but also the
socio­‑cultural
well­‑being
and reinforce regional
identity in the relationship among the economic,
social and cultural players present in the region.
4. Final Considerations
The productive process in tourism is neither
totally autonomous nor unique. Several sectors are
responsible for producing tourism products, which
seems to be particularly true for rural tourism.
Thus, it might be said that besides generating
income, particularly foreign currency, tourism can
integrate the local economy and generate com-plementary
products, which are not necessarily
agricultural, but add to the tourist experience and
foster local development.
There is a growing perception that well­‑formulated
and appropriately implemented
strategies are crucial factors for the organizations
to become successful in their aims, thanks to the
greater internal alignment around their overall
objectives, the positioning of the organization
towards the environment in which it acts, and to
maintaining consistency over time.
PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural. 12 N° 3. Special Issue. Mayo 2014 ISSN 1695-7121
Cláudia Brazil Marques, Carlos Honorato S. Santos 547
Consequently, tourist activities can only be
efficient and viable over a medium and long­‑term
horizon, if the resources they depend on are
maintained and even improved. Attention must be
given to territorial organization and environmental
quality, and strategic actions to certify the quality
of tourist services.
Since experiences in local development are the
result of a particular combination of historical,
social, economic and geographic factors, it should
be emphasized that, at most, each case is unique
and, consequently, the phenomenon cannot be
deliberately reproduced elsewhere. It is therefore
difficult to take it as a model, which, however, is
often done when framing policies with the intention
of creating development in a given region.
It should be pointed out that even if local develo-pment
is based on enhancing internal resources of
the region, this does not mean that we are looking
at an autarchic form of development, which would
not make the least sense in a relational economy
like the current one. Local development cannot be
seen as a “closed” experience, whose success comes
from this closing or self­‑sufficiency.
On the contrary,
local development is an ambition which needs to set
into value relationships and also exchanges with
the outside for its own benefit. These relationships
are, therefore, subject to certain conditions and
articulated with regional needs. The winning re-gions
are precisely those that find their own mode
of integration in the national and international
markets, not those that close themselves away.
According Kastenholz et al. (2012), strategy for
local tourism, is based on the creation of distinct
brands, local products, and networking among
stakeholders in the tourism sector. Also Kaste-nholz
et al. (2012) warns againsst the lack of an
integrated strategy vision for the region, and that
sub­‑optimal
use of existing infrastructure becomes
a constraint to local development process. Dealing
with local development, however, is a demanding
task. Sustaining a development process depends
not only on the performance of local businesses,
but also, and especially, on the capacity of local
agents to undertake coordinated action in search of
common strategies. This idea is part of the concept
of local development.
The definition and implementation of tourism
development strategies is the individual and sha-red
responsibility of the different actors involved.
However, the State, in its different spheres, should
define sectorial policies that may positively influence
the tourism activity. In the case studied, it was
seen that the State has not provided the necessary
infrastructural support for the region to integrate
different activities and consolidate it as an attractive
rural space for tourists. In order for this to occur, it
is necessary to be aware that the development of
rural zones must be conceived globally, integrating
economic, social and cultural dimensions, and, finally
acknowledge that this development is based on
people and on dynamic rural communities.
Tourism, as opposed to other sectors, is cha-racterized
by the market coming to the product.
For effective consumption of tourism as a product,
the tourist will have to travel to the structure that
supports his/her experience: the tourist destination.
It is impossible to dissociate an approach to the
product in tourism from the tourist destination.
Indeed, this element favors the development of
positioning, environment and configuration stra-tegies
for the central region of the tourist activity.
Finally, specific characteristics of this activity,
which are generally identified in all of regions as
fundamental for local development are: (a) trans-formation
of local resources into wealth; (b) the
understanding of tourism as an economic activity
by the local community; (c) stimulating the creation
of local infrastructures.
Only by developing a tourism system well inte-grated
into the local economic and social structure
can local development be sustainably achieved.
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Notes
1 ”Green revolution” is the name used for the productive
process that appeared in the 1950s, prioritizing the use
of agrochemicals in agricultural crops.
2 Associação dos Produtores de Vinhos Finos do Vale dos
Vinhedos (Association of Fine Wine Producers of Vale dos
vinhedos).
3 Established in 2001, the PI “Vale dos Vinhedos” for wines
from the 81 square kilometer region lying between the
municipalities of Bento Gonçalves, Garibaldi and Monte
Belo do Sul, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.
4 Routes are itineraries followed by tourists in order to enjoy
a context, seen as a whole, in an organized, attractive
manner.
Recibido: 04/11/2013
Reenviado: 04/12/2013
Aceptado: 30/01/2014
Sometido a evaluación por pares anónimos