The Institutionalization of Participation in Tourism Planning:

Discussions Based on the Case of Petrolândia, Pernambuco [Brazil]

Abstract

Facing the complexity of the decentralization of the State's action in the conduction of tourism, the political participation of the society is positively placed in the processes of production of public policies. The Municipal Tourism Councils are the materialization of this context. However, this participation still needs to be better understood. Therefore, we used sociological institutional theory to understand these processes of greater or lesser institutionalization of participation. Thus, we investigated the institutionalization of participation in the planning of tourism in Petrolândia, Pernambuco [Brazil]. We conducted applied research, with a qualitative approach. We concluded that participation is a condition much more imposed by national politics than conditioned by the construction of personal relations and affinities among the individuals responsible for its local conduction.