A vitivinicultura e o enoturismo no vale do submédio São Francisco

Abstract

The Valley of the Submédio São Francisco covers eight cities between the States of Bahia and Pernambuco. Due to the development policies implemented since the mid-twentieth century, the Vale has experienced significant growth in irrigated fruit production in recent years, with grapes as an important regional development factor. Meanwhile, tourism has grown in the region based on business generated from economic development and the visit of technicians and researchers seeking information about irrigated fruit growing. However, another segment of tourism activity has emerged in recent years: wine tourism, whose purpose is to know the wineries, the production and the culture of wine regions. In this context, the objective of this work is to analyze the contribution of vitiviniculture to the development of wine tourism in the region of the Submédio São Francisco Valley. It was discussed the positive externalities of firms' agglomerations and the linking effects of master industries on satellite industries from the contributions of authors such as Marshall (1980) and Hirschman (1958) to understand how an economic activity in a region can influence the emergence from different sectors. The research used as a data collection technique the documentary research, bibliographic research and structured interviews with managers and representatives of the wineries in the region that practice wine tourism. Descriptive statistics, documentary analysis and content analysis were used for data analysis. As a result, it was observed that winemaking acts as a master industry, capable of linking new ventures, such as wine tourism services. Its production serves as input to other companies in the tourism sector, driving the economy of new sectors, such as hotel and gastronomic. Among the main reasons that make the winemaking of the Submédio San Francisco Valley induce enotourism activities are: the atypical characteristics of the region, located in semi-arid climate and unique capable of harvesting twice a year; the peculiarity of the terroir printed in the drink and the differences in production in relation to the traditionally producing regions.