Abstract

FARIA TASSO, João Paulo; PINHEIRO DO NASCIMENTO, Elimar  and  ARAUJO COSTA, Helena. Socioeconomic Insertion Factors in Emerging Tourism Destinations (Barreirinhas - MA), Brazil. Looking for Inclusiveness. Estud. perspect. tur. [online]. 2012, vol.21, n.5, pp.1075-1093. ISSN 1851-1732.

Which are the main factors that contribute to the insertion of local inhabitants on the tourism productive chain of emerging touristic destinations? Social-economic integration is an essential aspect of sustainability, an objective of tourism policies and one of the main concerns of Brazilian society. The study selected the Brazilian municipality of Barreirinhas (Maranhão, located in Lençóis Maranhenses National Park due to its expansive tourist destinations in Brazil. The municipality has a low human development index (HDI) and a high incidence of poverty. A total of 12 factors were selected for the analysis of the study such as: access to information (area's knowledge); educational level; physical proximity to the place where the tourist activity is developed; gender; age; networking; previous family experiences; collective organization; place of birth; professional qualification; religion; and family income. The survey process was applied in the tests and statistical tests were used for the analysis of the results. The conclusion was relatively surprising: the factors that contribute the most towardssocial-economic integration in the tourism productive chain are the collective organization and professional qualification. The HDI that contributed the least are gender, age, family income, previous family experiences, and religion. Educational level, access to information, place of birth, physical proximity and networking contribute in an intermediate level.

Keywords : Public policies; Social inclusion factors; Local development; Sustainable tourism.