A Sustentabilidade de empreendimentos rurais: um estudo a partir da implantação do turismo no estado de São Paulo.

Abstract

The rural tourism arrived in Brazil in the middles of the decade of 1980, primarily for being a way to generate financial revenues complementary and supplementary, so necessary to help the weak financial situation of the rural production units, specially the small ones, deriving from many issues that limited the capacity of getting financial return from these properties. Until the middle of the 1990 s decade that activity stayed restricted to the south of the country, mainly the state of Santa Catarina, with a few of initiatives out of this region. The main question that originates this project is the establishment of a relation between the development of the rural tourism and the increasing of a higher sustainability of the units of rural production where the tourism is developed. That higher sustainability is a result of better environment achieved, the creation of jobs, besides the utilization of the new tools of management by the entrepreneurs, especially in planning. In spite of the countless differences between the rural production units, common traces were found between the companies and their managers, primarily the capacity of developing successful business based, in a general view, on the same premises. It emphasized the protection of the environment after the rural tourism started, checked by higher protection of the nascent (sources), ciliary forests, hills (mountains) and other formations, expansion of the natural cover vegetable area and the decreasing of negative impacts that could be deriving from the agriculture and cattle raising activities. In the economics dimension it is possible to examine with more clearness the benefits ot the activity, such as the extension of the UPR s revenues, the investments in infra structure and a big satisfaction with this activity, because of the increasing income and the minimizing of the problems faced during the typical seasonal period of the agriculture and cattle raising activity. Another verification was based on the extension of the management capacity of the entrepreneurs, making use of mechanisms such as projecting. On the social view, many positive aspects were verified, such as the rural culture, interchange with the visitors, as well as the involvement of the whole family in an activity that, before creating material resources, generates, on the exercise of hospitality, a great personal satisfaction, as well as an elevation on the self esteem and the pride. In this way, verifies that the implantation of the rural tourism, when well planned, makes the unity of rural production more sustainable, through developing better conditions related to the environment, promoting social inclusion, valorization of the local culture, generating extra revenues and new jobs. All these factors together convert to the real sustainability of the rural production unit, moreover helping to build sustainable communities.