The dynamics and relevance of collaborative arrangements in ecological tourism management: experiences of Itacaré, Bahia

Abstract

The partnerships in tourism can be explained as 'synergies' between many organizations and institutions either belonging to the public, private sector or to the civil society; most of the time with the existence of subgroups of interest and of pressure. Political matters and negotiation of power are inherent aspects in the process of implementing partnerships. The methodological approach of this study seeks to be grounded on empirical results and interpretative understandings in order to verify existing phenomena, events and meaningful processes in the partnerships, networks, technical and non-technical cooperation, and in the strategic alliances in the tourism destination Itacaré. So as to achieve such a result, aspects of the methodology Participatory Action Research (PAR) was used, concomitant to the data collection with a triangulation method. The PAR requires the use of participative and interactive approaches between the researcher and the elements under investigation. This procedural aspect helps to understand further the systematic relations between people, place and the facts that instruct and influence the decision-making within a certain context. As for the collaborative arrangements and the effective management of tourism, the author found that the 'goodwill' of key groups to participate in open, public debates, with democratic orientation, helps the community to have projects over the power relations, the political election process, and beyond a political timeframe itself. There is consequently a prerogative that the community ends up having long-term supraparty projects for tourism management. This way, collective advantages' can be produced by orchestrating the actions of all sectors and key actors; their involvement allows to build the bases for a holistic sustainability in tourism, and by doing so, they are expected to mitigate the negative impacts in the destination as while making the regional socioeconomic development robust and progressive.