In this 37th edition of Festuris - Gramado International Tourism Festival, the LGBT+ Space began a transition to Diversity Space. The change broadens and opens up the debate on different forms of inclusive tourism, such as afrotourism, which was the theme of the lecture Afrotourism on the Agenda.

The meeting was led by Fabiana Oliveira, General Coordinator of Tourism Products and Experiences at the Ministry of Tourism, and included the participation of Isadora Bispo, Director of Interfederative Coordination at the Ministry of Racial Equality, and Natália Oliveira, Consultant at Embratur/CAF. With a packed audience, the trio brought history, projects, and hopes for the future.

During the lecture at the 37th Festuris, the presentation of the Black Routes Program, which seeks to strengthen the sector as a tool for promoting racial equality, was highlighted.

Isadora gave a historical overview and spoke about structuring and changing scenarios. "When we have a ministry that is designed with policies aimed at promoting racial equality, it is no coincidence that we are in a scenario in Brazil where every perspective of vulnerability, exclusion, and marginalization, historically speaking, has an impact on the black population. Talking about history is the first step in understanding our present. As black women, we will have to come and go in our ancestry, in the search and struggle of our people," she says.

With “crystallized stereotypes,” the director points out that, in a Brazilian society where more than 55% of the population is black and the highest vulnerability index is among this population, Afro-tourism comes to make amends. “Decolonize what comes from colonialism,” she says, adding that “the program comes to address the central problem, which is racism.”

Fabiana talks about the importance of addressing the issue, not only for racial equality, but also from a tourism perspective, based on the program that has been launched. "Having a space here dedicated to Afro-tourism, where we can position the program within this market in Rio Grande do Sul, in Latin America, we are in a market with a highly valued, very strong European culture. But what we want is to transform Brazil into a country where we can value our black history," she points out.

"It is not easy to work with other peers to create public policy. In 2024, when we were developing the premises and guidelines for the program, we realized that the first thing was that we had no concept of Afro-tourism. And that was very important, so that we could situate the states and municipalities," she adds.

According to Fabiana, the idea behind Rotas Negras is to value culture, heritage, and knowledge, connecting people to the history of the contributions of the Afro-descendant population around the world.