Tourism and sustainability in Brazil
15-11-2006
Two years ago SOMO started a project to develop an innovative method for analysing value chains in the tourism sector. The project was done in cooperation with the IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands (IUCN NL, part of IUCN, the World Conservation Union). Using the outcomes of this value chain research, SOMO and IUCN NL want to raise awareness among companies in the tourism sector, as well as individual tourists in the Netherlands, on the sustainability issues of international tourism.
For the value chain research, SOMO and IUCN NL partnered with CICLO, a
Brazilian civil society organisation based in Rio de Janeiro. Using a
framework for value chain research on package deals, CICLO conducted
extensive research in Porto de Galinhas, a small village in the
Northeast of Brazil. This village has experienced an enormous growth of
international tourism in the last ten years. The case of Porto de
Galinhas is in many ways illustrative of the challenges faced by small
and mid-size communities in Brazil and elsewhere in the world as a
result of the rapid growth of tourism.
Value chain analysis and research on the sustainability of the
Brazilian tourism industry are the cornerstones of the SOMO report of
the study 'Tourism and sustainability in Brazil'.
The authors give recommendations on how companies, local entrepreneurs,
governments and tourists can act to ensure that tourism contributes to
the sustainable development of local communities in Brazil and
elsewhere in the world.
The case study on tourism in Porto de Galinhas is available in Portugese:
Sustentabilidade e responsabilidade social na cadeia do turismo
