Embratur participated last Tuesday (23 September) in the launch of the Combú Route on Combú Island in Belém, Pará. This community-based tourism initiative was developed by Sebrae Nacional, Sebrae do Pará, and the local community in a unique Amazonian territory separated from the Pará state capital by a river. The ceremony celebrated the riverside entrepreneurs who created and are now managing the sustainable tourism route.
The event was attended by Embratur’s President Marcelo Freixo, Sebrae Pará’s Managing Director Rubens Magno, the route’s entrepreneurs, and representatives of the tourism industry as well as state and municipal tourism management agencies.
The Combú Route is a tourism development project that highlights riverside culture, promotes ecotourism, and strengthens local entrepreneurship. The residents themselves presented the itinerary and discussed the creation of the Route, which offers authentic experiences in Pará’s Amazon region. These include cultural encounters and the ancestral wisdom passed down through generations.
Just a 15-minute boat ride from Belém, the island is renowned for its riverside restaurants, natural streams for swimming, and traditional cuisine. The project aims to develop a structured tourism product that encourages visitors to spend two or three days on the island, enjoying everything it has to offer – replacing the short, half-day excursions that were previously the norm.
The project brings together 14 enterprises, spanning agroecological handicrafts, a cooperative of boatmen providing river transport and tours between Belém and Combú, as well as workshops, trails, productive backyards, lodging, and a variety of cultural experiences led by local entrepreneurs who are ready to welcome international tourists.
The initiative is the result of a partnership between Sebrae Nacional and Sebrae Pará, which coordinated the structuring of the Combú Route, with the support of Embratur for international promotion; Raízes Desenvolvimento Sustentável, which implemented the project focusing on community-based tourism; and Green Destinations, which contributed sustainability criteria.
Embratur’s President Marcelo Freixo highlighted the importance of launching the tourist route ahead of COP30, when the world’s attention will be on Belém and the Amazon. Freixo emphasised tourism as an economic alternative for the local population, helping to make forest preservation profitable while safeguarding local cultures and traditions.
“Sebrae didn’t invent the Combú, but it’s helping the island become an international route. And this is very good for tradition and for generating jobs and income. And Embratur is responsible for promoting Brazil worldwide. What you find on the Combú Route you won’t find in Paris, Madrid, São Paulo, or Santiago, you’ll find it here,” he said.
“With the route, we have the opportunity to bring foreign journalists and international tour operators here, to get to know this deeper Brazil, one that isn’t in a soap opera or a postcard, but that is in this feeling of a Brazil within so many Brazils,” he added.
Rubens Magno also stressed that tourism relies heavily on small businesses, which make up 95% of the sector.
“Sebrae’s role is to help small businesses. And we can’t just stay in the larger regions. We need to go where there are entrepreneurs. And here in this island area of Belém, there are many businesses, a lot of potential, and a lot of ancestral heritage. So, when Marcelo Freixo, our president at Embratur, agreed to do the international outreach, we rolled up our sleeves, got to work, and today we deliver. It’s another great legacy that COP30 leaves for our city and our country,” he stated.
According to Sebrae’s Managing Director in Pará, the communities actively shaped the itinerary.
“There’s no point in trying to bring our solutions to the territory. We need to understand what the territory has. And so we are truly implementing this policy of coming and seeing what’s inside and working with the tools we have, but mainly using active listening and seeing what’s good to show the planet that, after all, people come here to learn about, consume, and understand this ancestral heritage here in the Amazon.”
Analice Mota, entrepreneur at the Samauma Eco Experiências agency, noted that the Combú Route has united local entrepreneurs around a shared purpose.
“So our idea is to work within a community-based tourism perspective. As a tour guide, I not only guide but also sell the tours, because I’m also an agency. We’re happy that our work is gaining visibility. It’s exactly what we need abroad,” she celebrated.
International Prominence
Following its launch in Belém, the Combú Route will be presented nationally during ABAV-Expo 2025 on 9 October. This debut at Latin America’s largest tourism fair will strengthen the visibility of Pará’s Amazon region on the tourism map and ensure the Combú Route becomes a sustainable tourism legacy for Belém after COP30 in November.
During the ceremony, Embratur also awarded Green Destinations tourism sustainability certificates to all entrepreneurs who met the required standards.
