Born in 1985, Gil Cunha started his first contacts with the tourism market when in 1990, his parents Geraldo Alberto and Marilene opened the “Pousada O Meu Canto” in Santa Rita de Jacutinga MG, a pioneer in Ecotourism in the region and in Brazil.

 

For many years accompanying his father, who was a trailblazer for most of the trails to the city's waterfalls and guide to the Pousada, Gil took a liking to his profession, served as a local guide in his teens and became Embratur's National and South American Guide in 2003.

 

He was a little removed from the area and from Santa Rita during the years he graduated in Business Administration from UGB in Volta Redonda RJ and for a few more years in Rio de Janeiro, a period that worked in several segments, Finance, Fashion, Events , etc.

 

In 2012 he returned to Santa Rita and gradually took over the family business and putting into practice some of his ideas to leverage the Pousada and Tourism in the city, much of what he saw in his travels to other tourist cities.

 

The Guide services, previously exclusive to the Pousada's clients, started to be offered to all visitors of the City, with partnerships and training of new drivers for their team.

 

Still in 2012, it started offering adventure sports such as Boia Cross and Canoagem in its service portfolio. Then came the creation of a new business, “Ilha Parque de Aventuras”. Space dedicated to the practice of adventure sports, which also has Rafting, since 2014. The place is already a reference in the area of ​​Adventure Tourism, with trails and leisure areas for customers in the middle of nature.

 

Since 2011, it has had a Facebook page with tips on attractions, services and events in Santa Rita, which has made it well known throughout the region, with daily posts and a differentiated and innovative commercial vision.

 

With the creation of the portal "santaritadejacutinga.tur.br", allied to its content on social networks in 5 pages about tourism, it managed to considerably increase the flow of tourists and putting the name of Santa Rita as a Tourism Destination in Brazil.

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It is always present in the main tourism fairs and events in Brazil, presenting the city and its services. It gained even more access to the tourism sector when it joined ABETA (Brazilian Association of Ecotourism and Adventure Tourism Companies), an international reference when it comes to Outdoor Life, representing, qualifying and promoting Ecotourism and Adventure Tourism as activities fun, healthy, sustainable and safe.

 

For a long time he believed that through the Public Power, with its policies and investments, Tourism would become the main source of income and the engine of Santa Rita's economy. Unfortunately, so far, there has been no predisposition on the part of local governments to invest in the area.

 

Faced with this challenge, in 2013 Gil Cunha concluded Empretec, a UN Entrepreneurship Seminar applied in Brazil in partnership with Sebrae, where he can envision a new path for the development of tourism, with initiatives starting from the Private Initiative.

 

Since then he took over the management of Pousada O Meu Canto, from Ilha Parque de Aventuras, expanded his guided tours with new guides, new itinerary formats, partnerships with Rural Restaurants, Fishing and attraction owners.

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At the 2015 Carnival, it launched a “Central de Passeios”, next to the Pousada O Meu Canto, where with its tours it offers new experiences to customers, valuing the conscious interaction with nature, the historical rescue and rural experience, besides a lot of adrenaline in the adventure sports.

Still in 2015, the “Ibitipoca Tourism and Hospitality Network” was associated, a Sebrae Business Center, a project of the Serras de Ibitipoca Circuit, whose principle is to strengthen and promote tourism in the region. Since October 25, 2016, he has been the President of the Network.

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The Network is an example of cooperativism in search of the common goal among all those involved, improving both in the quality of the product offer and in the provision of tourist services, in addition to the search for the competitiveness of the Serra de Ibitipoca destination in the national and international tourist scene . Its goal is to strengthen institutional policy in the private sector in order to increase the bargaining power in purchasing supplies, promoting and marketing the destination and self-sustainability of sister companies.

 

Rede Ibitipoca comes to create a new conception of the relationship between enterprises, entrepreneurs, customers and public authorities, always looking for partnership, quality and sustainable growth of local and regional tourist activity. The “Rede Ibitipoca” group seeks, above all, to exceed customer expectations regarding the sectorial tourism services, necessary for good travel experiences, which will certainly be kept in the memory of visitors.

 

Currently it is the project that Gil dedicates most of his time, because he faithfully believes that through Cooperation and Associatism, that the best results can be obtained. Always in the certainty that "Together We are + Strong".