• by Valerie Dee (bento gonÇalves, brazil)
• Monday, August 17, 2009
• Inter Press Service

In 1875 a handful of families from the Veneto region of northern Italy, fleeing hardship and hunger, took ship for the Empire of Brazil. Disembarking in Porto Alegre in the southeast, they hacked their way for over 100 kilometres through densely wooded country into the Serra Gaúcha hills, up to 800 metres above sea level.

Land, 25 to 50 hectares per family, was distributed free to these self-reliant pioneers in an area of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul named Dona Isabel, after his daughter, by the emperor Dom Pedro II (1831-1889). This imperial policy, which followed the abolition of slavery in 1871, was aimed at populating the land and making it productive.

Important changes were under way in the economy of Rio Grande do Sul. Soon, railways connected the countryside to Porto Alegre, the state capital and chief port, and together with the introduction of steam ships, quicker and cheaper transport boosted exports.

The population of the state of Rio Grande do Sul doubled between 1872 and 1890, from 434,813 people to 897,455, according to records at the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). This was partly due to immigration: about 60,000 immigrants, mostly from Italy, settled in the Serra Gaúcha region during this period, and continued to arrive in large numbers in the following decades.

The descendants of Italian immigrants are estimated at 25 million in this country of 190 million, and in southern Brazil they represent around 35 percent of the population.

The immigrants brought their vinestocks with them from Veneto to their new country, which resembled the foothills of the Dolomites they had left behind. They planted vineyards and cultivated maize, wheat, fruit and vegetables, shaping the rugged territory into patchworks of farmland and caring for the earth they tilled.

The crests of hills and the steepest slopes in this highland region, where winters can be rigorous, remain wooded with the original forest. Concern for the environment is also evident in cities, where litter bins come in pairs - orange for organic waste and green for recyclable materials.

Bento Gonçalves, as Dona Isabel was later renamed, is now a thriving city of over 100,000 people, 650 metres above sea level, where monuments, museums and pageants celebrate the saga of the first Italian immigrants to the region and their culture is expressed in food, crafts, dance, song, festivals and - especially - wine.

The Serra Gaúcha region in Rio Grande do Sul is home to 90 percent of Brazil's wineries. Bento Gonçalves is the acknowledged wine capital of the region, for the quality of its products.

Five generations later, few of the descendants of the first Italian immigrants still speak their Veneto language. But their cultural traditions, the attractive landscape and the local climate in this predominantly tropical country are proving a big magnet to tourists.

'I was born in Bento Gonçalves, but I really got to know the city when I began to work in a hotel. Tourism in Bento Gonçalves is increasing, because it is a region with temperatures that are different from other places in Brazil, and because connoisseurs come here to appreciate the wines,' Letícia da Silva told IPS.

Nândri Strassburger, from the southern Brazilian state of Paraná, who has a master's degree in tourism and has worked in this industry for six years, told IPS that 'private companies are investing in improved facilities to receive tourists with better quality services, and the state and local governments contribute through improvements to the city's infrastructure.'

The authorities have cultivated visitors by developing tourist routes, such as the Vale do Rio das Antas (valley of the Tapirs river), Vale dos Vinhedos (valley of the vineyards), and the Caminho de Pedras (stony road), where they can explore 120-year-old farmhouses made of local rough-hewn basalt, taste the wines and sample farm fare.

Naryane Dias, from the southwestern state of Mato Grosso do Sul, is on a student placement at a large hotel for the final stage of her degree in tourism. 'The market for tourism has become more dynamic, and this creates a demand on hotels for agility, practicality, and commitment to their customers, which foments customer loyalty,' she commented to IPS.

'The high season for tourism is June and July (the southern hemisphere winter), and during events like congresses,' Aline Cardoso, who has worked in the hospitality industry for five years, told IPS. 'Most visitors come from the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Sao Paulo. Foreigners come from several countries in Europe, but they are the minority.

'Bento Gonçalves has a low rate of unemployment. The main industries are furniture, winemaking and tourism,' said Cardoso, who is from Farroupilha, in Rio Grande do Sul.

The 332 furniture makers in Bento Gonçalves produce 40 percent of the furniture made in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, equivalent to eight percent of national furniture production, according to an article in the trade magazine ConstruArte.

One company, Todeschini, which used to make accordions, catering to the Italian folk music tradition, switched over to furniture in the 1960s, when the rising popularity of guitars reduced demand for accordions.

According to 2007 statistics from the municipal government, furniture-making contributes 70.5 percent to the industrial sector of Bento Gonçalves' economy, metal working contributes 13.6 percent and winemaking 13 percent, with other sectors such as clothing and food each contributing less than one percent.

Local businesses in general have invested liberally in technological modernisation and ongoing professional training for their staff in the last few years. Nearly all of them have implemented total quality management, the ConstruArte article says.

Even in times of economic crisis, Bento Gonçalves is not without resources, as it is home to the largest air-conditioned exhibition and events centre in Latin America, FundaParque Expo, which hosts some of the most important international fairs for wines, furniture and environmental concerns.

'Trade fairs are the best antidote against a crisis. Participating in trade fairs is an obligatory strategy for all companies and professionals interested in enlarging their businesses and keeping up-to-date with the latest market trends,' said Armando Campos Mello, head of the Brazilian Association of Trade Fair Organisers (UBRAFE), in an interview with Brazil Export magazine.

Events held in Bento Gonçalves so far this year have included Fenavinho, a national wine festival, the Feira Internacional de Máquinas, Matérias-Primas e Acessórios para a Indústria Moveleira (FIMMA), an international furniture industry fair, and ExpoBento, a multisectorial exhibition and sale of fashion, food, wine, motorbikes and cars.

In the first week of August, Casa Brasil, a mega exhibition of 'Design e Negócios' (Design and Business), filled the five vast pavilions covering 322,000 square metres at the FundaParque exhibition centre with interior design displays featuring new concepts in furniture, lighting and decor, and showcasing projects involving Brazilian and African designers and artisans.

Rio Grande do Sul is the Brazilian state with the fourth highest human development index (HDI), according to the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), after Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Santa Catarina. Brazil's overall HDI ranking places it 70th out of 177 countries worldwide.

Eleventh in size out of the 26 Brazilian states, with a population of 11 million people, Rio Grande do Sul is larger in area than the country of Uruguay, with 3.2 million people, on its southern border.

It has the third largest per capita GNP of Brazilian states, at 13,320 reals (7,260 dollars), after the states of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, compared with the average of 8,300 reals (4,520 dollars) for Brazil as a whole, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook.

The state's exports were worth 17 billion dollars in 2008, up from 13.7 billion dollars in 2007, according to the Brazilian Institute of Applied Economic Research database (IPEADATA).

As for Bento Gonçalves itself, the vineyards, valleys, wooded hills and climate are all attractive to tourists. The custom they bring encourages development of accommodation, entertainment, tourist routes and adventure tourism, which in turn add to the appeal of the city as a conference and exhibit centre.

© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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