Atlantic Amazon Scenarios and New Tourism Potential

The eastern region of the Amazon has always been recognized for being located at a strategic point. It is where the river meets the sea and the North begins to divide with the Northeast, transforming an area into an important transition zone called the Atlantic Amazon. Altogether, 49 municipalities from Pará make up this zone, with Salinópolis and Bragança being two of the most important cities, functioning as economic, cultural and tourist centers for the Northeast of Pará and leveraging tourism throughout the State.

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From the Atlantic Ocean, it was through rivers and entering the Amazon forest that the first Europeans who arrived here in the 16th century were able to observe with fascination the gradual transformation of the ecosystem, which changes according to the influences of nature, passing from the salt water of the sea to the freshwater of the rivers, showing the inestimable wealth of the region. No wonder, it is precisely where the longest continuous line of mangroves in the world is located, starting in the northeast of Pará and going to São Luís, in Maranhão.

The Caeté River is one of several bodies of water that shelter these mangroves, bringing life and wealth to the municipalities that bathe, mainly, Bragança, a city that was born from the river and whose inhabitants contemplate its dark waters daily. The municipality, founded by the French in 1613, has a vibrant culture, in which gastronomy, the historic architectural complex of the center and music stand out, which mixes the sacred with the popular in events marked by religious syncretism.

(Ivan Duarte / O Liberal)

“Bragança is known as this cultural cradle, due to our African, European and indigenous origins”, boasts Vinicius Oliveira, secretary of Culture, Sports and Tourism in the municipality. For him, it is impossible to talk about the city without mentioning the flour from Bragança and Marujada, the most striking examples of the region's cultural potential.

Bragança overflows culture

Created by a group of enslaved Africans of the then general government of Grão-Pará and Maranhão, the “Marujada” has its first record in the year 1789, in the colonial period, when the Brotherhood of São Benedito was born, which had the purpose of carrying out a party in praise of the “black saint”, with music and dancing in the houses in the region.

"In July, for example, the occupancy rate of hotels and inns increases 45% in relation to the low season, and around 500 temporary jobs are generated in the city" - Vinicius Oliveira, secretary of Culture, Sports and Tourism in the Bragança.

After almost 220 editions of Marujada, in 2009, the party was declared a cultural and artistic heritage of Pará. “This cultural wealth of the municipality is a great tourist attraction. Here is a cradle of music, plastic arts, cuisine, which attracts tourists to the region, in addition, of course, to the richness of our nature. We can also highlight our flour, which is perhaps our greatest gastronomic culture”, mentions the secretary. This year, Bragança flour received the seal of geographical indication from the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). According to documentation submitted to obtain registration, Bragança produces between 800 and 850 tons of cassava flour per month and has around 9,000 local producers. For Vinícius Oliveira, publicizing and exploring these particularities of the municipality is the path to the economic development of Bragança, as there are plenty of reasons for tourists to come to the municipality.

"We are working on the creation of tourist itineraries. We are including, for example, visits to flour houses, which are already part of experience tourism”, comments the secretary, reinforcing the search for this public that wants to experience the region with immersion tourism. In May, the Federal Government confirmed the inclusion of the Atlantic Amazon route in the Experiences of Rural Brazil Project, an initiative of the Ministries of Tourism and Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa). Rural experiences through artisanal fishing, tasting artisanal cheeses, cassava flour and fruit found in the state.

(Thiago Gomes / O Liberal)

“The municipality lives today from agriculture, fishing and tourism. This portion of tourist income comes from the entire chain, such as hotels, restaurants, shops and bars. In July, for example, the occupancy rate of hotels and inns increases 45% in relation to the low season, and around 500 temporary jobs are generated in the city”, he explains. According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), in 2020, Bragança had an estimated population of 128,000 inhabitants.

Today, most tourism in Bragança is regional, with people coming from the State of Pará. “It's people from Belém, Castanhal, Paragominas, as well as people from the Southeast. But, from the moment that Bragança started to appear more, even because of the flour, we started to feel this greater flow of people coming from other states, and even from abroad. In addition, the Atlantic Amazon tourist route is already a reality, attracting many people from abroad to the region. We have a very diversified public, but of course the regional public still predominates, and our intention is to expand this”, explains Vinícius Oliveira.

Still talking about experience tourism, another point that fascinates visitors to Bragança are the feautures that the place still preserves in the local lifestyle, especially in areas away from downtown. In the region, the fishing activity persists in the traditional way, present in the lives of villagers near the sea, rivers and mangroves. 

(Thiago Gomes / O Liberal)

Stingray and snapper are the main seafood fished in the deepest waters of Bragança. On the road to Ajuruteua, a small fishing village still preserves the ancestral model of fishing, using motor and sailing boats that depart on the ebb to the sea and return to the coast during the flow, after scanning the water with a net to catch as much as possible. In addition to selling what is caught both at the roadside and at the city's fair, local fishermen also practice bartering, exchanging what was caught on the day with other community residents, giving fish and pieces of stingrays and receiving lemons and oranges, in a model that, more than generating income, strengthens the relationship between the villagers.

According to the city administration, the months with the greatest visitation are July, due to school break; December, because of the Festivity of São Benedito and Marujada; and Carnival, at the beginning of the year. In addition to the attractions already mentioned, the city bathed by the Atlantic and Caeté offers options of beaches and streams, tours that show the potential of various segments of the Bragantine region. “In tourism, I highlight the Ajuruteua beach, which will have funds for the construction of the beachfront. Today, we already have 1,800 meters of pier ready, in addition to urbanization work on the edge of both Ajuruteua and the center of Bragança”, says the mayor Raimundo Nonato de Oliveira, known as “Raimundão”.

'Salinas' is a destination for those who want excitement or tranquility

Continuing along the coast of Pará, there is Salinópolis, a city that is called Salinas by the bathers who invade its sands during the July holidays. The city's history begins at the end of the first half of the 17th century, when the Jesuits rehearsed the beginning of a village, but it was only in 1781 that it was officially founded. The name Salinas came from the existence of a small salina, a factory for extracting salt from sea water, during the colonial period, managed by the Jesuits who used mainly indigenous labor. Salt was widely used to conserve the fish with which they supplied themselves during the piracema and, to this day, fish is still one of the main sources of income, followed by the tourist sector.

(Thiago Gomes / O Liberal)

“Tourism has a lot of strength not only in the municipality, but in the entire region. We are in the Atlantic Amazon pole, within the Caeté region, and Salinas is on the edge, and it favors all these municipalities”, explains the municipal secretary of Tourism, Culture, Sport and Leisure, Júlio César Vieira. “Salinas is considered the city that encourages tourism, making it possible for other municipalities to develop economically. This is our role: to work not only with the municipality, but with regionalization”, he highlights, explaining the transformation that the municipality undergoes from June onwards, when the high season begins, which lasts until December.

“We usually say that we lost accounts in the month of July. We have a population of about 49 thousand inhabitants, in a weekend, it goes to five times more. During this period, Salinas cannot keep up with the demand, as consumption is very high. And that's why we need partners in the region, to supply vegetables, crabs, fish, which come from other municipalities. Everyone helps each other and everyone grows”, reinforces the Secretary of Tourism, who also talks about how important it is to preserve the natural beauty of the beaches and mangroves, and for this reason, the work of environmental awareness is fundamental, with support from the Department of Environment.

“We try our best to maintain this natural aspect of the beach, being careful with the constructions in Maçarico, Atalaia and other mangrove areas, in addition to the issue of garbage. We are strongly focused on environmental education projects in the neighborhoods, talking to the local community about the importance of preserving the area. We talk about pollution, about respect for the crab season”, informs Silvan Cardoso, Municipal Secretary for the Environment of Salinópolis. “Today, the population generates 500 tons of garbage a day. In this peak period, it goes to 5 thousand. It multiplies a lot, and requires more effort from the secretariats together. So, we are focusing on education, as it is not just the city hall to do its part. The population also has duties to fulfill in this part”, says the secretary, reinforcing the concern with what is left behind by the high rate of visitation during the holidays.

(Thiago Gomes / O Liberal)

Both Silvan and Júlio César agree that balance is essential for the municipality to develop economically, sheltering more and more tourists, but that they are also more concerned with nature, so that the beautiful white sand beaches continue to enchant visitors. For the municipal administration, it is necessary to be prepared to receive this demand, and the objective today is to improve the structure that Salinópolis already has. “The local airport is a dream for everyone, even for the arrival of a tourist with greater purchasing power. The inauguration is scheduled for the month of July, as there was an expansion of the structure, increasing the runway to receive larger aircraft. Salinas is a growing child”, concludes Julio Cesar Vieira.

Tourism in synergy with nature

The images known to those who visit Salinas in July are of the crowded beaches in July, with the sands of Atalaia taken by cars and with stereos turned on at high volume, matching the warm climate that bathers seek. However, for local entrepreneurs, the city has much more to offer, and hotel chain projects are already investing in destinations that are different from the usual ones, with a focus on the unique nature with which the region has been blessed.

(Thiago Gomes / O Liberal)

“The main destinations in Brazil today are those of contemplation. We are going through a pandemic and seeing the importance of health care, experience in open places and in contact with nature, and Salinas has everything to do with it”, celebrates Geraldo Ramos Barros, young entrepreneur who runs the Hotel Solar, legacy of his family that underwent several modernizations in its management. Today, Geraldo invests heavily in tours through the mixed area between the river and the sea that bathes his development, where visitors can navigate and admire the guarás, herons, fish and rays that live there.

“The main attraction here is the natural beauty with the mangroves, the beaches, the open place. So, we have to understand that we are in the Amazon in contact with the Atlantic Ocean, and there is no greater appeal than that. Of course business tourism is very important, but nature contemplation tourism, with us knowing how to take advantage of it for ecotourism, is the big business that Salinas has in his hands, and he has to know how to explore it, with the right public. The public that buys ecotourism is family, likes tranquility, and it is profitable”, he explains.

(Thiago Gomes / O Liberal)

Concerned about the nature that made him fall in love with Salinas, Geraldo provided studies that could indicate the best way to explore the region's tourist potential, causing minimal damage to the mangrove and the forest. A resident of the city, where he lives with his wife and children, the young businessman no longer finds himself returning to Belém and says that, today, Salinas has the necessary infrastructure to receive people from all over the world. “I was 21 years old and took over the hotel, and to this day, we are managing to overcome the obstacles. Salinas manages to have a business maturity, showing how important it is to work on the environmental issue to help the municipality's development”, he reinforces.

One of the partners who share the same love for “Sal”, as the municipality is affectionately called, and sees the region's almost unlimited potential is Max Morais, director of the CCAA language school who also resides on the coast. Recently, he has put into practice an old dream called “AnauêA”, which is an eco-education and tourism operator that uses, in a sustainable way, the natural, economic and cultural heritage, encouraging its conservation and seeking to form a environmental awareness and skills through multidisciplinary pedagogical projects. “Welcome to Salinópolis” is one of these, an initiative that promotes linguistic exchange using the “learning-by-doing” technique, presenting solutions for the well-being of the populations and communities involved, in the formation of environmental multipliers.

In addition to highlighting environmental education, forming multiplying agents, the project even though it trains local and qualified labor that can work in the tourist sector in the region. “"This agency will also include children, to form, at least, opinion makers, aware of their role. In the long term, we can train conductors and tour guides. Worldwide, schools that work with the Environmental Education model (Eco -education), realized that experience, related to curricular content and living with nature, builds knowledge of traditional classroom teaching. We are developing a model of cultural exchange, with the participation of the regional and international community, and include needy communities. In September, we should include students from local schools", celebrates Max Morais.