Specialists attending the second Brazilian videoconference on Improving Regional Tourism Development Programs with the objective of Alleviating Poverty, say that tourism is an economic activity with labor opportunities that can reduce poverty in Brazil.
The idea of using tourism to reduce poverty has been discussed by domestic and international agencies for some time after studies of the social and economic impact of sustainable tourism.
“The objective must be to integrate action in favor of Sustainable Tourism and Poverty Alleviation,” declared Maria Luisa Leal, of the secretariat of Tourism Development Programs at the Ministry of Tourism.
According to Marcelo Neri, of the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, sustainable tourism works with two types of capital: natural and cultural.
It boosts the small business sector and has broad economic consequences as it involves market analysis, personnel training, cooperativism, public infrastructure, education, credit and, a big positive factor, takes place in the formal job market.
ABr