Regionalization Program of Minas Gerais, Brazil: historical aspects, fragilities and perspectives

Abstract

This article aims at performing a general analysis of the Tourism Regionalization Program in Minas Gerais, approaching the main historical aspects of the formation of the State Secretariat of Tourism of Minas Gerais (Setur-MG in the Portuguese acronym) and the regionalization policy, as well as proposing a reflection regarding the main fragilities and perspectives of the project. Besides the participant observation, the research involved a bibliographic analysis and interviews conduction with representatives from Setur-MG, from the Federation of Tourist Circuits (Fecitur in the Portuguese acronym), from the State Council of Tourism of Minas Gerais (CET-MG in the Portuguese acronym) and tourist circuits managers from several areas of the state. It was noticed that many fragilities experienced by the tourist circuits already indicated in previous studies have not been overcome, with emphasis on the financial difficulty worsened by the associated municipalities’ high delinquency rate and economic and financial crisis in the country. As perspectives, it was verified that there is great expectation regarding the creation of the General Law of Tourism of Minas Gerais, which aims at recognizing the existence of the Tourist Circuits. The necessity of revision of the criteria for qualification in the Tourism ICMS (Tourism Goods and Services Tax) and the increase in the tax collection portion for tourism have been also pointed out as necessary.  It is essential that the Setur-MG, as the managing and encouraging body of the program, promotes measures in partnership with the tourist circuits and Fecitur, aiming at the improvement of the capacity of the circuits’ management, as well as the strengthening of the institutions in their territories towards an effective empowerment and protagonism of the regions.