University of São Paulo: USP and Ibitinga City Hall launch publication aimed at the tourism area
“Shall we think about tourism in Ibitinga?” and “Are we going to think about the resumption of tourism?” these are the two questions that serve as a guideline for two publications developed by USP, through the USP Municipalities program, in partnership with the Municipality of Ibitinga. The launch of the Todos pelo Turismo collection was promoted on June 14, in a ceremony held at the City Hall and broadcast online.
The work is the result of the technical cooperation agreement signed between USP and the City Hall in September 2019. With around 70,000 inhabitants, the city has its main economic activity in the industry and is known as the “national embroidery capital”.
The objective of USP Municipalities is to create innovative environments and put into practice projects and actions that promote the development of municipalities and their regions, with the strategic formation of professional qualification for young people and the strengthening of creative economies. The program foresees the development of actions in six main areas: job and income generation; activities aimed at education and sport; training of municipal managers; citizen formation; indicator management; and creating environments for innovation.
“We want the population of Ibitinga to have income, to have a job, and this is one of the perspectives of USP Municipalities. Tourism is a transversal area and, therefore, we count on the participation of everyone, especially students, who are essential in this process. The proposal is to create financing for an entrepreneurial ecosystem for tourism. The surrounding municipalities will benefit if we have a strong ecosystem, involving all areas”, said the vice-rector of USP and general coordinator of the USP Municipalities Program, Antonio Carlos Hernandes.
The mayor of Ibitinga, Cristina Arantes, emphasized that “having USP on our side is a reason for great honor, pride and satisfaction. In our government, we always seek to ensure social participation. This project is extremely important for the education area and it is an old dream to implement education for tourism in our municipal education network”.
The “All for Tourism” Collection was developed by students and professors from the Tourism course at the School of Communications and Arts (ECA), who made an “expedition” to the city to recognize points with tourist potential and to survey natural and cultural resources from Ibitinga, under the coordination of the USP Municipalities Tourism Project and ECA professor Debora Cordeiro Braga.
The first volume aims to invite the city’s population to reflect on tourism in a simple and playful way, promoting a debate on the subject. The copy will also be used in an interdisciplinary project on Education for Tourism, aimed at fifth-year students in the municipal public education system.
“The interaction of tourism with education is essential to expand students’ knowledge beyond the main income that is embroidery, a strong characteristic of the city that makes it nationally recognized. We will have a tourism project, using interdisciplinarity. The objective is to develop tourist awareness, sensitize families and the community, essential for the formation of citizenship”, evaluated the Secretary of Education of Ibitinga, Claudenice Xavier.
The second volume is aimed at entrepreneurs and workers in the tourism sector, with the aim of helping them to think about alternatives and initiatives to overcome the problems faced by the covid-19 pandemic. The publication contains examples, tips and references to help you through this process.
For the Municipal Secretary of Tourism, Commerce and Industry, Eduardo Reino, “education for tourism is one of the pillars and central theme present in the tourism master plans. This collection is a project that looks to the future. Its meaning is to glimpse into the vitality of a community regarding tourism, tourism as one of the driving forces of the city, our concern with the reality we are living in, the difficulties that our business community is experiencing. The two volumes are connected and open up many possibilities for extension”.
The collection will have more volumes, which will be biannual, with qualified information for other social actors involved in the tourism area.
Also participating in the ceremony were the deputy mayor of Ibitinga, Frauzo Ruiz Sanches; the president of the Municipal Council of Tourism, Valdecir Silva; the executive coordinator of the USP Municipalities program, Marcelo Chueiri; the director of the Institute of International Relations at USP and assistant coordinator of the program, Janina Onuki; as well as authorities from the cities of the region, who watched the event online.