Cultural heritage, tourism and public management: predatory tourism and heritage devaluation in Igarassu, Brazil

The subject of this article is the architectural and landscape complex of Igarassu, more specifically the interrelationships between cultural heritage, tourism and public management in the historic site. The field work showed that the current pattern of tourism is an instrument of devaluation and deterioration of this heritage, leaving reduced benefits to the city. This results from the external control of the flow of tourists and visitors, as well as the lack of effective public control and regulation by local government. Given the nature of the tourism market, specifically the agencies and tour guides, and public management in Igarassu, relevant changes in the interrelationships cited above are assessed as unlikely to happen, at least in the short and medium term. .