UC Berkeley Tourism Studies Working Group

*There is no password needed to join this meeting. However, please ensure that you are logged into your Zoom account before clicking on the meeting link.

Abstract

In the sociological literature on tourism and race in Brazil, most studies focus on tourism as a phenomenon, with less attention given to the tourist's own experience. John Urry’s concept of the “tourist gaze,” understood mainly as a process of constructing repertoires that begins before the journey, contributes to the interpretation of travel choices informed by social dimensions such as race. I propose that this tourist gaze is shaped by processes of racialization, as discussed by Omi and Winant in their book Racial Formation in the United States. This study examines part of the findings from research that explored the travel choices of Black and white tourists in Brazil during domestic trips. Using a qualitative approach, the research was conducted through interviews with members of affinity groups on the social media platform Facebook. These interviews investigated their decision-making strategies and explored the extent to which racial identity informs their travel choices.

Based on the evidence gathered, I argue that race shapes not only the possibilities of choice, but also the aspiration to travel as a viable leisure activity. I present and discuss the strategies employed by tourists in selecting destinations where they do not feel welcome and analyze how class, as a native category, persistently emerges, permeated by a racialized understanding of who does and does not belong in tourism spaces such as airports and bus stations.

Speaker Bio
Thaina Santos holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism (2018) and a Master's degree in Sociology (2024) from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Her academic work focuses on the sociology of tourism and sociology of race and ethnic relations. During her undergraduate studies, she was invited by South African Tourism to present her final research project at Africa's Travel Indaba 2019, one of the continent's largest tourism conferences. She served as a teaching assistant for the Methods and Research Techniques course during the spring and fall semesters of 2022. Her methodological approach combines mixed methods, integrating both qualitative and quantitative perspectives. Currently, she works as a Consumer Insights Specialist, merging academic expertise with industry experience to analyze tourism dynamics in Brazil.