Beyond the Bioceanic Route: indigenous crafts and the potential of ­ethno-tourism in the southwest of Mato Grosso do Sul

Para além da Rota Bioceânica: o artesanato indígena e o potencial do etnoturismo no sudoeste de Mato Grosso do Sul

Más allá de la Ruta Bioceánica: la artesanía indígena y el potencial del etnoturismo en el sudoeste de Mato Grosso do Sul

Abstract:

The object of this article is the relationship between indigenous crafts and the potential of ethno-tourism in the southwest of Mato Grosso do Sul. With the implementation of the Bi-oceanic Route, government propaganda has been promising that this economic corridor will stimulate tourism, hence the objective of probing the potential of ethno-tourism in that region, which will directly suffer a great impact as a result of this large-scale undertaking. The theoretical-methodological framework is based on the basic assumption that human productions necessarily result from work, hence the need to treat them as social relations. Therefore, the object of research only acquires understanding within the most general frameworks of capitalist society, expressed by categories such as capital, labor, labor force, market, merchandise, among others. Regarding the methodology, the empirical data survey looked for primary sources of a documentary and imaginary nature, especially photographs. Systematic observations were also recovered in work siltation, carried out both in production and commercialization stations of indigenous artifacts. Secondary sources relevant to the object were also raised, such as catalogs, scientific articles, master’s dissertations, doctoral theses, books, and book chapters. To make ethno-tourism viable, the general conclusion is that it invests in a set of initiatives, planned in an integrated and continuous manner within a permanent project. In this group, the improvement of ethnic artifacts is urgent; the recovery and systematic maintenance of the access roads to indigenous lands, as well as the restoration and adaptation of the buildings already available in the villages, with a view to adapting them to the provision of services and products to tourists.

Keywords:
environment; cultural practices; crafts; tourism