Mercado Público Barrageiro represents Brazil in international award of community impact in tourism

The Mercado Público Barrageiro is the only Brazilian representative in the contest for the World Sustainable Travel & Hospitality Awards (WSTHA) 2026, in the category of initiatives that represent positive impact on communities. The winners will be chosen by popular vote from 25 September to 21 October and the public can vote on the website: https://wstha.com/award/world-leading-community-impact-initiative/2026.

For Yuri Benites, Director of Tourism of Itaipu Parquetec, reaching the final extends the international visibility of an experience collectively built in Foz do Iguaçu, with a proposal to connect tourism, culture and desenvolvimento local.

“The Mercado Público Barrageiro was born with the proposal of being a meeting point of the community, of cultures and positioning the city and its citizen, also as attractive,” the director stressed.

The Foz do Iguaçu initiative competes with other actions of countries such as Ecuador, Kenya and England. The winner will be announced on December 9 in Paris, France, during the WSTHA 2026 ceremony.

Foz do Iguaçu in the vote

The local community and the tourism trade of Foz do Iguaçu may have an essential participation in the vote. In addition to being open to the general public, the votes of professionals in the tourism and hospitality sector are worth twice as much.

To vote as a trade professional, it is necessary to register on the official WSTHA platform, using corporate email (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail and personal Outlook are not accepted), fill in the professional information requested, including category of performance, company name and contact details, and vote in at least two categories. The registration will be verified by WSTHA and, in order for the vote to be counted as Industry Vote, it is necessary to meet all these requirements.

From ancient Cobal to tourism, culture and development space

Inaugurated in November 2024 in the space where the old Cobalt was operating, the Mercado Público Barrageiro was born from the partnership between Itaipu Binacional and Itaipu Parquetec with the proposal to create a equipment capable of combining gastronomy, culture, tourism and desenvolvimento socioeconômico.

Since then, more than 900,000 people have circulated through the market and followed, among other actions, the initiatives of the Cultural Circuit, which opens spaces for local artists to perform and already counts more than 350 presentations in almost 200 special events held.

The space directly involves about 210 people in its operation and maintains connections with more than 900 producers, artisans, cooperatives and partner families. Cooperatives and associations also occupy permanent spaces in the Market, creating channels of contact between family farmers, artisans and other productive groups and the public formed by residents and visitors.

National and international recognition

The arrival at the final places an experience developed in Foz do Iguaçu in an international showcase of sustainable tourism. Recently, the Market was also awarded in the category of Innovation in Processes at the Iguassu Valley Award.

The candidacy presented results related to the democratization of access to culture, generation of opportunities, strengthening of producers and local organizations and connection between tourism and community development.

Applications to WSTHA undergo analysis based on quantitative and qualitative data, impact, collaboration, possibility of replication and ability to demonstrate results. After this stage, projects that meet the qualification criteria move forward to review the organization of the award and composition of the finalist list.