Turismo e trabalho: informalidade, precarização e organização dos trabalhadores que atuam nos passeios no Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses

Abstract

The Lençois Maranhenses National Park, a world patrimony humanity, has proven to be a strong tourism driver for the state of Maranhão, attracting the attention of government, business people and visitors. It contributes to the generation of jobs and income, both directly and indirectly, especially for those who work in the park, accompanying tourists, whether they are tour guides, visitor guides, vehicle drivers or boat pilots, who usually organize themselves through associations and cooperatives. Thus, the main objective of this research is to understand the organizational strategies of professionals who work on tours in the PNLM, given the informality and precariousness of work in tourism. To this end, the methodological procedures used were bibliographical and documentary research, field studies with a qualitative approach, in loco observation, and semi-structured interviews combined with the life trajectory technique, with the presidents of associations and cooperatives and tour workers, seeking to understand their working conditions and whether they are moving in some way toward less predatory tourism. The data analysis was based on content analysis. The study revealed that the work of these individuals is precarious and residual, due to being informal and seasonal. However, actions have been developed in an attempt to alleviate this precariousness. This thesis contributes to the advancement of research based on workers who work in national parks, by listening to these individuals who survive from tourism.