Tourism Development Policies in the Brazilian Northeast

Abstract

From the concrete perspective of capturing the focus on the metropolises, (Fortaleza, Natal, Recife and Salvador), of the most dynamic northeastern Brazilian states (Bahia, Ceara, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte), the process of intense urbanization of the beach zones is associated with meeting the demands for leisure activities, inserted in the dominion of modern maritime practices. Their repercussions propel the aforementioned cities regarding their relationships to the sea. Leisure is thus presented as the delineating element of the modernization process of the cities, taking on a characterization in the dominance of the coasts whose unfolding converges on the surrounding region. Thus it projects a rationality of metropolitan character, associated to the metropolitan region and more specifically to the coastal municipalities which compose it. As a consequence, the idea of touristic metropolization is spread, justified by: (a) regional public policies (Prodetur I, Prodetur II and Prodetur Nacional) as well as national ones (Growth Acceleration Program-PAC and (b), private investments in the real estate market, the strength of which is associated to coastal tourism and maritime resorts. Consequently, one sees the passage of a social and political imaginary in a food producing region which suffers the perverse impacts of Nature (a justification for industrialization policies), to the evidence of a positive image of the semi-arid regions that evaluates investments in agribusiness and coastal tourism, indicated herein as an innovative variable and the enhancing keynote of the urbanization undertaken since the beginning of maritime resorts. The aforementioned maritime practices hugely impact the coastal landscape of northeastern cities, explaining the tone of marked modernization in the metropolises studied and their metropolitan regions. According to this, one understands the logic of dispersed urbanization guided by: (a) linearity, dictated by the dynamic to run parallel to the coastal zone, with a minimal width; (b) fragmentation, characteristic of noncontinuous urbanization and consequently associated to some pieces of coastal, metropolitan land; (c) seasonality, reflecting the use derived from the practice of appropriating beach zones at certain times of the year: the tourist high season, and that of resort tourism over a longer period and that is instituted as occasional and not permanent. It is concluded that the coastal city of the past is losing strength. The emerging metropolis imposes itself as it incorporates the beach zones of the metropolitan region in its geography. Understanding this phenomenon imposes the need to comprehend the hodiernal dynamic of giving value to the coast as a space of leisure and of tourism. The users, beach lovers, are a variable force outlining a new world, based on multiple scales. There are those who live in the metropolis and from there, fulfill their dreams of having a second home in other coastal municipalities (autochthon maritime resort). Others are travelers who are excited to see the maritime stops of Ceara (coastal tourism). Confused with tourists are the resort tourists, who are anxious to reside occasionally at the beach and also in the metropolis (autochthon maritime resort). The state invests in infrastructure and policies to attract the penultimate group. Nothing of this kind has been considered for the last group. However, it is worth highlighting that they also benefit from the touristic infrastructure; their numbers are increasing (coming from other states in Brazil and abroad) giving a foundation for the emergence of local and international real estate projects.