Governmental responses to tourism development: Three Brazilian case studies

This article examines how and why governments responded to actual or potential investments in tourism development in terms of strategies for environmental management. Three case studies were selected in the Brazilian Northeast to examine how development in the tourism sector created change in environmental policy and management at local level. Government strategies were managed by different jurisdictions of government and had diverse interactions with civil society and external actors. From the case studies, the most typical responses of local and regional governments could be divided into four groups: (a) building institutional capacity, (b) investing in environmental projects, (c) controlling development and tourist flow, and (d) creating protected areas. The article analyzes under what conditions governments tend to adopt each of the different strategies.