Resumo O presente artigo tem como objetivo discutir algumas referências teóricas e históricas que possam iluminar a discussão sobre a formação social brasileira e como o turismo tem contribuído para reforçar um modus operandi, ancorado na desigualdade social, que sempre orientou a atuação do Estado nacional em comunhão com os anseios de uma elite conservadora, racista e neoliberal. Para tanto, foram utilizadas a pesquisa bibliográfica e documental com o intuito de desvendar a relação entre a atividade turística e a manutenção da desigualdade social no discurso das principais políticas públicas de turismo implementadas pelo governo brasileiro nas últimas décadas. Como resultado principal, constatou-se que o discurso de combate à desigualdade social tem sido o mote das principais políticas públicas de turismo implementadas no país, servindo para legitimar as suas reais intenções frente às populações que residem nos territórios que recepcionaram essas ações.

Abstract This article aims to discuss some theoretical and historical references that can illuminate the discussion about Brazilian social formation and how tourism has contributed to reinforce a modus operandi, anchored in social inequality, which has always guided the performance of the national State in communion with the aspirations of a conservative, racist and neoliberal elite. For that, bibliographic and documental research were used in order to unravel the relationship between tourist activity and the maintenance of social inequality in the discourse of the main public tourism policies implemented by the Brazilian government in recent decades. As a main result, it was found that the discourse of combating social inequality has been the motto of the main public tourism policies implemented in the country, serving to legitimize their real intentions towards the populations residing in the territories that received these actions.

Abstract The present article examines the relationship between tourism, production of space and the role of residents at two hotspot tourist destinations in Brazil: Cabo Frio, located in the State of Rio de Janeiro and Porto Seguro, in the State of Bahia. The development of the tourist industry in the localities under study occurred at different points in time. In the first, the urbanization process was associated with the acquisition of second homes in the 1950s, while the second, located in the Northeast region of the country, this process emerged in conjunction with the mass tourism industry only in the late 1980s. We hope this research will enhance understanding of the process of urbanization and the configuration of tourism space and the conflicts arising from this in developing countries, notably Latin America. Our methodology employed theories based on those developed by Chesnais (1996, 2005, 2016), Harvey (2005, 2008, 2011, 2014), Santos (2006) and others to explain the production of space in a way that goes beyond the use of historical data and socioeconomic analysis. The initial conclusion was that, despite the differences in the process (mass tourism vs. second homes, development in space and over time and geographical position), the two geographical locations selected presented the same findings: unequal production of space and the exclusion of local populations. The tourism activity investigated in these two case studies thus appears to replicate the current stage of development in Brazil, characterized by inequality and exclusion and reflected in the landscapes of the country’s tourist destinations.