Ethical challenges of public tourism policies in the face of the exacerbated crisis by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Abstract

The theme of this article focuses on the various (and contradictory) measures to deal with the disastrous consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, that is, on the one hand, by encouraging the immediate resumption of Tourism leveraged by the current administration of the Federal Government of Brazil (such as a strategy to fight the economic crisis) and by protest actions by representatives of the productive sector of Tourism and, on the other hand, by popular demonstrations by residents of Brazilian tourist destinations, against such a resumption of the activity. So, the central question seems to be: how should national public policies be structured in order to mitigate the appalling negative impacts of the pandemic on the Brazilian economy (especially regarding unemployment and lack of income), without disregarding the fundamental commitment to health security of populations in tourist destinations, in view of the increase in the situation of disseminated contamination? The objective of the research is to analyze the contradictions that have been established between national public policies for the resumption of Tourism (in the fight against the economic crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic) and the growing insecurity of populations in Brazilian tourist destinations in view of the expansion of the situation. of contamination. The theoretical foundation is based on: theories of the sociology of absences and emergencies, by Boaventura dos Santos; Hannah Arendt (2010) about the rise of the social sphere that undermined the original distinction between public and private, with action (praxis) being one of the fundamental human conditions. The theoretical-methodological path taken in the development of the essay is the multiple case study through the analysis of experiences, and the triangulation of speeches through analytical categories. The discussions that open from there permeate conceptual debates on an ethical foundation of public policies, to mitigate the effects of structural crises, and the current impact of the pandemic that devastates the world scenario. And if these are in the field of mitigation or irresponsible promotion, under the commitment to save jobs, opposing ethical attitudes in the exercise of imposing violence of legal authority, and the principles of public discussion on "mutual commitment and common deliberation".