Questions about living experiences in Adventures and Tourism

On October 9, 2024, the“II State Seminar on Rural and Adventure Tourism” took place at the Le Canton hotel in Teresópolis, RJ. The place is known for its European-style architecture, and when you arrive, your view soon reaches an impressive castle. The event took place outside the hotel, where there were simultaneous panels with presentations and areas for exhibiting, tasting and selling products such as honey, coffee, cheese and jams from local producers. I took the opportunity to sample some delicacies and brought home some coffee cream, freshly ground coffee and an eggplant antipasto!

I could go on and on about these delights… back to the presentation panels. Themes such as sustainability, beer tourism, wine tourism, rural tourism and experiences were covered, with a focus on the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro. Discovering that Teresópolis has wine producers and wineries to visit was a pleasant surprise! During the event, Henrique Silva, the region’s tourism director and tour guide, presented the Travessia Petrópolis x Teresópolis hike, highlighting its beauty, but also the care and preservation of the environment. He spoke about nature as if it had no borders, saying something like this: “The birds, when they fly, pass through Guapimirim, but also Teresópolis and other regions. When the wind carries seeds, it spreads them over different areas, without limiting them to one space. The river that rises high in the mountains has no borders; it flows through different regions.” This reflection highlights the relationship and our care for nature, considering that the very crossing that connects Petrópolis to Teresópolis, part of its route is in Guapimirim, also highlighting the region with its beautiful waterfalls!

Another region near Teresópolis, the town of Santa Maria Madalena, was presented by Anna Mostowik, president of Madalena C&VB, in a very beautiful and generous way. She told us that the region has received an international award, the Dark Sky Park, and is recognized for its astrotourism, with one of the most favourable skies for admiring stars with the naked eye! The traditional event, the Star Festival, will even take place in May 2025. In general, the event brought together mostly businesspeople, entrepreneurs, marketing and communications professionals, masters and doctors in the environment, as well as government representatives, such as the former secretary of tourism for Teresópolis, Flávio Guerreiro, and the superintendent of the vice-governorship of the state of Rio de Janeiro and former president of INEA, Philipe Campello.

Reflections on Experiences in Adventures and Tourism

During the presentations, certain phrases were emphasized, such as the relationship between tourism, the search for experiences and the recovery of memories. These provocations sought to encourage entrepreneurs to meet their customers’ needs, which creates a very interesting counterpoint with those who live the daily cultivation of the land, where experience is their daily routine. This relationship between tourism and experience really caught my attention. There seems to be a search for something that makes us relive memories, as if we were disconnected from these experiences. Do we really need to buy experiences to relive something, like the smell of coffee that reminds us of familiar moments, if we drink coffee every day? Where are the sensations in our daily lives? To what extent are we living in the present moment? Tourism, by offering experiences and memories as a product, seems to highlight this disconnection with what is part of our daily lives, as if there were a purchase to HAVE memories and experiences. If these needs are so highlighted, it says even more about our need for a connection with it all. It seems that our very act of living “needs” an extra meaning. What about the act of living itself? Are we living our days and enjoying present relationships? Are we running out of space to recover beautiful memories from the past? I wanted to bring up these points as reflections for each of us (or for anyone who wants to reflect), because I believe that when we are more aware of what we are going to consume, we make better choices. Finally, the event was a space that created a potential environment for presentations about the region, both in the lectures and through the exhibition of products and services. Our region is invaluable!