Community-Based Tourism in Ceará's Coastal Space: Innovative Socially Responsible Activities

Introduction

The State of Ceará is located in the Northeast of Brazil and offers numerous tourist activities. However, most are concentrated on the coast, as it has a tropical climate that allows sun and beach activities throughout the year. Regardless of the level of professionalism in the tourism sector, even if it is not tourism with professionals with regular training, on the coast of Ceará this economic activity was able to develop alternative tourism, community-based tourism. This tourism seeks to offer visitors preserved environments, respecting local ways of life and environments. This is because nowadays it is perceived that tourist movements are related to environmental values. These community groups plan and promote exchanges by building a form of tourism that values ​​cultural diversity and strengthens traditional activities.

This chapter derives from postdoctoral research funded by Funcap-CAPES in Brazil. It investigates innovation in community-based tourism in coastal spaces. The sun and beach tourist today seeks to consume, in addition to aspects related to the sea, authentic experiences that respect the territory and the environment. In this way, traditional, widespread tourism leaves space for projects that allow less risk to the place and cause less impact on the environment and the local community.

The competitiveness of tourist companies has a strong relationship with innovation. And this one, with environmental sustainability. However, despite the existence of important efforts and investments in clean technologies by organizations, the environmental impact continues to increase. In this context, the need for this study arose, which identified the innovative activities related to the Corporate Social Responsibility of businesses in Ceará's coastal tourism. The objective of this chapter is to present the innovations implemented that resulted in being practices derived from concepts of corporate social responsibility and not only that, to present the innovations that the coastal communities of Ceará have implemented in recent years. Understanding the transformations of Ceará's coastal space is very useful to understand the dynamics of tourism development and the metamorphosis suffered by business models (sometimes informal) in the context of the work performed by the local community.

Soares and López (2015) point out that tourism is an activity that when poorly planned, its attractions can deteriorate in a way that will have very negative consequences for the place and, consequently, for its residents and indigenous people. Even so, it is necessary to highlight the need to seek new orientations and productive diversification based on taking advantage of the potential of the natural environment and coordination by the community that offers the service, so that the bases of sustainable tourism are really followed and they are balanced. In this context, there is a need for a paradigm shift. It must shifts from a tourism where profit matters to a non-hegemonic tourism, which is more human and seeks a cordial relationship with the environment, understanding that the environment is a lot more than just nature, or environmental environment, it goes beyond and it involves the society, the people who make up the place. Therefore, community-based tourism is capable of organizing small companies (sometimes they are not even conformed to a legal figure), economic, political and intellectual agents to develop and control management, avoiding speculation by other interested sectors.

The chapter is organized into V sessions. In addition to this first, where the study is presented, there is a second session where the territory to be studied is presented. In the third part, tourism on the coastal space is discussed, from sun and beach tourism to tourism on the coastal space. It is in the fourth session that innovations in Ceará community tourism are presented: Constant work, shared management and innovations in Ceará coastal tourism?; Joint marketing and brand positioning; or, Social technologies and concern for sustainability.

Background: The Territory In Question

The State of Ceará is the third richest in the Northeast Region. Its economy is diverse; with a strong presence of the tertiary sector of commerce and services, with a special emphasis on tourism. In this sector, the biggest tourist attraction is related to its coastline and tropical climate. Temperatures average 28º throughout the year, with little variation in temperatures. The consistency of the trade winds on this coast both serves as a natural regulator for the temperature not to be so high, and favors the appearance of wind sports.