The social representations about tourism in communities of the Rio Negro (Iranduba-AM)

Abstract

The objective of this study is to identify and analyze the social representations of community residents Nossa Senhora do Perpetuo, Sao Thome and Paricatuba Village facing the tourism activities. The communities are located in Iranduba, the interior of Amazonas, on the outskirts of Protected Areas Mosaic of Protected Areas of the Lower Rio Negro. It used the Theory of Social Representations proposed by Moscovici and followers, in a qualitative research approach with multi methods, integrating observation, interviews, focus groups and participatory workshops for tourism planning and cognitive maps. Internal conflicts, the socio-historical context, worldviews, differentiate into each of the communities and representations are formed and transformed from each reality. It was found that in every community there are different social representations of tourism, at certain times, these views in line. The study of social representations of the social actors indicates that the community-based tourism is perceived incipient, lacking leadership, it is necessary greater involvement of the community and strengthening community ties.