The Who & the How - Insights on Inclusion in Tourism in Brazil's Northern Littoral Pleasure Periphery (LPP)

Tourism in Brazil was originally concentrated on a few urban areas in the South; however, it has been expanding to regions that were traditionally not on the list of travellers (Lohman and Dredge, 2012). To promote social and equitable development in Brazil's widely-deprived North, tourism development was encouraged by the Brazilian government which led to huge investments into Brazil's northern Littoral Pleasure Periphery (LPP) (Pegas et al, 2015). Consequently, sun, sea and sand tourism in the northern LPP has been growing rapidly attracting Brazil's new middle-class of domestic travellers and an increasing number of international tourists (Fennel, 2008; Ministério do Turismo, 2016). Tourism has become the most important sector in the northern regions; however, little is known about the structure and sustainability of Brazil's northern LPP (Pegas et al, 2015).

The aim of this paper is to provide empirical insights on the who and the how of inclusion in Brazil's northern LPP using a mixed-methodological approach. Quantitative value chain analysis (VCA) was adopted to identify who is and how they are included in the tourism value chain. This was followed by a qualitative photo-elicitation project which explored people's perspectives on tourism in terms value of tourism-related income, individual opportunities and challenges, and wider societal benefits and costs. Tourism development is highly valued by local people, because it brought an improved standard of living - in particular, through income generation and provision of infrastructure, health care and education. However, tourism in Brazil's northern LPP strongly mirrors classical disparities between the White and Black, the North and South, the Rich and Poor. Local people with a mainly Black Afro-Brazilian background have low-income jobs in hotels or pousadas without professional development opportunities, whereas owners and managers are dominantly White Brazilians from the South or expatriates from Europe.