The dynamics of tourism discourses and policy in Brazil (2016)

Fazito, M., Scott, M., Russell, P.
The dynamics of tourism discourses and policy in Brazil
(2016) Annals of Tourism Research, 57, pp. 1-17.

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2015.11.013

Abstract
This article employs a Foucauldian inspired discourse analysis in order to unveil hidden aspects of the tourism development policy-making process in the UNESCO Espinhaço Range Biosphere Reserve, Brazil. It identifies the emergence of different representations of tourism development and demonstrates the process of social construction of sustainable tourism as an overarching discourse, which incorporates different-sometimes opposing-representations of tourism development to gather the support of people with different backgrounds and interests. However, this research demonstrates that this flexibility caused the sustainable tourism narrative to become a vague and imprecise discourse in the context of the case study, which has been used by the regional elites to conserve the status quo, but disguised as a critical alternative perspective. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.

Author Keywords
Development studies; Espinhaço Range Biosphere Reserve; Foucauldian discourse analysis; Policy making

Index Keywords
ecotourism, policy making, recreational policy, tourism development; Brazil, Serra do Espinhaco