De região problema à periferia do prazer: o turismo e a ressignificação do Nordeste brasileiro

Abstract

The Brazilian Northeast has until recently had an image associated with poverty, misery and drought, and, consequently, of negativity. In the last decades, imagery and reports have been developed with the purpose of promoting the Northeast as a more dynamic and modern region, endowed with natural amenities - environmental conditions sufficiently attractive to an economic diversity, including the development of the tourist market. This research study proposes that tourism has contributed to give a new meaning to the image of the Northeast region, from a mostly negative to a more positive interpretation. Therefore, this research study aims to analyze the participation of tourism in the re - signification of the image of the Brazilian Northeast. In order to fulfill this objective, a qualitative methodology was chosen as the basis for this research, which sought to explain (and not only to punctuate) the data obtained, both in bibliographical and documentary research, as in field research. Theoretical readings and data analyzes were guided by the dialectical method. The research was divided in two stages: the one of the interviews to the public and private sectors, added to the tourists, and another one of documentary research, which was focused on the review of printed press of national circulation that had, for decades, presented images about Brazil for its own citizens - Veja magazine, and also the review of textbooks used in Brazilian high schools from 1960 to 2010, to better understand the conditions on the Northeast before and after the tourist boom. For both stages of research, the content analysis was adopted as the analysis technique for recorded speeches and conducted review. The data obtained allowed us to understand that tourism was a co-producer, added to the economic growth of other sectors and the infrastructure of the main Northeastern cities, of this new image of the Northeast; an activity that by its nature must compose and commercialize positive images while structuring spaces and, with that, contribute to transpose the depreciated image of the region.