TOUR GUIDES IN BELO HORIZONTE

Fashion Industry

Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, is well recognized for the unique design and quality of its women´s footwear and goods production in the fashion industry. The cluster emerged in the 1930´s, during the first Industrial Revolution, through the efforts of Italian immigrants, who found in Minas Gerais an opportunity, as opposed to the Great Depression affecting Europe. Nowadays, the Belo Horizonte fashion cluster is home to 500 companies that create over eight thousand jobs, directly and indirectly. Their annual production sums up to 8 million pairs of shoes and 5 million pieces of goods (purses and accessories), meaning a revenue of about R$ 400mi in 2009. Moreover, these companies are now reference in the Brazilian fashion industry, exporting to markets such as Latin America, Europe, Middle East, South Africa and USA.

Visits on May 16th, 2011

9:00 AM – Presentation of the Cluster Project at the Mercure Hotel
10:00 AM – Leave to visit Luiza Barcelos Shoe Company
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM – LUNCH
2:00 PM – Leave to visit at Rogério Lima Showroom
5:00 PM – Leave to Ouro Preto

Biotechnology

The Biotechnology Cluster in the Belo Horizonte region has 48 companies, representing approximately 68.5% of the companies in this industry in the state of Minas Gerais. This cluster is differentiated for its companies are at a more mature level, hiring a higher number of employees, revenue level and number of products commercialized in the market. The Biotech Cluster in Belo Horizonte is a reference in Brazil in the bioscience field, offering mainly products for human health and inputs for laboratories, especially for the diagnostic business.

Visits on May 16th, 2011

9:00 AM – Presentation of the Cluster Project at the Mercure Hotel
10:00 AM – Leave to visit Habitat – biotechnology companies Incubator
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM – LUNCH
2:30 PM – Presentation of the Executive Secretariat of the Biotech cluster at Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Region
4:00 PM – Leave to visit Bioclin
5:30 PM – Leave to visit Visiontech
6:30 PM – Leave to Ouro Preto

Information Technology

The IT Cluster in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte is one of the largest and most important technological clusters in the country. The capital of Minas Gerais is home to over 1,300 software companies that reached a revenue in 2009 of approximately R $ 2.5 bi. This cluster is known for its high capacity of innovation and for the high qualification of the labor work. It employed in 2009, about 7,240 people, meaning a growth of 348% when compared to the year before. It launched a stamp called Software of Minas, referring to the origin of the products and solutions, reflected by the excellence of the software and services offered by this IT cluster.

Visits on May 16th, 2011

9:00 AM – Presentation of the Cluster Project at the Mercure Hotel
10:00 AM – Leave to visit FUMSOFT – Software Association of Minas Gerais
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM – LUNCH
2:00 PM – Leave to visit Toolife
5:00 PM – Leave to Ouro Preto

Construction

Forming a group of 20 companies, the micro and small companies of home and construction of Belo Horizonte live a daily battle to be competitive against the big and well established Home Centers. The construction market is quite attractive, reaching a growth of 13% per year, which makes it really important for these companies to seek alternatives to get maximum benefits from these opportunities. By working together, the group obtained unique results, such as certifications, labor work qualification, management improvement, as well as constructions and projects optimization.

Visits on May 16th, 2011

9:00 AM – Presentation of the Cluster Project at the Mercure Hotel
10:00 AM – Leave to visit the company Blojaf and the construction site of Direcional Construction Company
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM – LUNCH
3:30 PM – Leave to visit at the Trade association of construction materials of Minas Gerais State
6:00 PM – Leave to Ouro Preto

TOUR GUIDES IN OURO PRETO

1 – Itinerary: Secrets of the Conspiracy (Confidências dos Inconfidentes)

A trip back in time, all the way to the Minas Gerais Conspiracy. The visitor will learn about one of the most important historical movements towards the independence from Portugal. The tour will be guided by a historian, visiting the following sites:

Museu da Inconfidência (Conspiracy Museum), where there is an exhibition of furniture, silvery, religious objects and documents from the period of the Minas Gerais Conspiracy (1789).
Casa de Gonzaga (Gonzaga´s House), where lived the poet and conspirator Tomaz Antônio Gonzaga – “Marilia´s Dirceu”.
Museu Casa dos Contos (House of Contos Museum), a house of gold and coin foundry.
Casa de Tiradentes (Tiradente´s House), where lived the leader of the Minas Gerais Conspiracy, Tiradentes. This tour ends at the Casa dos Inconfidentes (House of the Conspiracy), where the secret meetings took place, the visitor will have the opportunity to listen to small tales and stories from that period, told by a storyteller.

2- Itinerary: Urban Senses – Sensory Tour

In this itinerary, the visitor has the opportunity to sharpen his senses during a walk on the baroque town. A frozen image, the picture that will remain will be that captured by memory, that will perpetuate each step, odor and sound experienced on this walk.

A visit on unusual routes in the historical center, emphasizing the sensory perception and the environmental qualities of the places.

3 – Itinerary: Museum Tour

Ouro Preto is considered a Humanity Cultural Heritage. This is a guided tour among the main museums that will give the opportunity to see the city, appreciate its colonial architecture, art, wealth and culture.

The guided tour starts at Igreja de São Francisco de Assis (São Francisco de Assis Church), to see the main work from Mestre Aleijadinho and the paintings from Mestre Ataíde, visiting the handicraft market, famous for its variety of work done in soapstone. The visit follows to the Museu do Oratório (Oratory Museum), where it is displayed a great collection of oratories from the XVIII century. The visit ends at the Museu de Arte Sacra (Sacred Art Museum), where there is an archive of goods from the Parish Nossa Sra. do Pilar, from the XVII – XIX centuries, displayed in thematic showcases, that retell the story of the colonial society structure, the religion and culture of the ancient Vila Rica and Igreja do Pilar, that has paintings in gold.

4 – Itinerary: Walk through Colors in Ouro Preto

To take a walk in town, observing every detail and color is the main objective of the route, in which the tourist goes along the streets of Ouro Preto, getting to know the secrets of its architecture and stories of its constructions. Walking through the open-air museum Cidade Viva (Live City), the tourist will see the residential archive and three centuries of history and culture, that are today stamped in front of the houses. The visit ends at Largo do Rosario, where the visitor will have the opportunity to draw any detail or local house seen on the route, oriented by an art teacher.