Host-Cities: Porto Alegre

16 Apr, 2014

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By Welligton Medeiros

Despite being a big city, the Gaúcha (Rio Grande do Sul) capital still has the airs and traditions of a small city. The parks are always busy and are the perfect place to drink a good old fashioned chimarrão ( a herb infused drink like mate) . There are churrascarias (Brazilian barbeque meat restaurants) as well as Italian and German restaurants for those who love good food. Culture is another Porto Alegre strong point, as it has diverse cultural centres and book shops. The city was founded beside the River Guaiba in 1772 and it is the most meridional capital in the country. It also has the highest income per capita in the entire southern region. It has been elected as the Brazilian city with the highest standard of living three times by the UN. Porto Alegre has more trees than most Brazilian capitals, with an average of 17 m2 of green area per habitant.

Tourism in the Guacha Region

The city has a knack for event tourism and business, however, it also has picturesque beauty, with post-card scenery like the Estátua do Laçador (a statue of a traditional man from the region, known as a Guacho) and Usina do Gasômetro (a beautiful building on the waterfront); it is surrounded by frequently visited sites like Novo Hamburgo (a picturesque town with German influences). It is less than 100km from the tourist trail Serra Gaucha, which covers cities like Gramado and Canela. The majority of tourists, from abroad, are generally not European or Asian, but from neighbouring countries like Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. They normally come to the region for shopping. Another area which has potential to develop, is business tourism, since Porto Alegre is an important centre for diverse activities. Today the Gaucha capital has 80 hotels and more than 12.7 thousand beds to welcome incoming tourists. There are also hotel-ra nches based around the city, which have increased the number of rooms available for tourists.

Beira-Rio and Olimpico: Porto Alegre’s two stadiums

Porto Alegre has two stadiums, Beira-Rio (which will be the host stadium when the World Cup comes to the city) and Olimpico. Data and studies show the Beira-Rio’s potential to sustain income once work has been done to it to meet Fifa’s demands. This would be seen as something positive for other cities, however, in Porto Alegre this has become a bit of a problem. The reason for this is, Fifa only allows the use of one stadium per city, in order to control the transmission of games. Porto Alegre’s two stadiums belong to rival teams: Internacional and Gremio.

Challenges for 2014

The greatest challenge that Porto Alegre faces in the task of improving its urban infrastructure. Currently, there are two big projects; building an underground train line and the urbanization of area close to the River Guaiba.

Porto Alegre was one of the few cities that scored highly in the Brazilian public’s view on World Cup cities. It’s worth noting that its two main stadiums are private and therefore don’t depend on public financing for reforms and adapting to Fifa’s standards. Historically, the Guacho public (Rio Grande do Sul natives) take great pride in their teams and frequently go to matches at the stadiums. This generates funds that have covered the huge expenses used on reforms. In this way it is different from other places in Brazil, such as Brasilia, which do not have respected teams, money from ticket sales and spend an absurd fortune using public funds. Well done Gauchos!