Patrimônio cultural e o mercado do turismo: reflexões socioeconômicas sobre os reflexos da Covid-19 no centro histórico de Piranhas, em Alagoas

Abstract

The present research work has the general objective of identifying the study of the effects of Covid-19 in the historic center of Piranhas, in Alagoas. It is about analyzing the measures that were taken by the public power in the historic center, identifying bibliographic and documentary material on the main discussions on the subject of cultural heritage with a focus on its relationship with tourism in Alagoas and observing the resonances of the measures of social isolation in the tourist sector, pointing to informal traders and residents in the historic center of the city. In order to achieve the proposed objectives, a qualitative methodology was used based on a bibliographical and documentary survey on sites specialized in sharing scientific works, such as on public power websites (City Hall of Piranhas, IPHAN, Secretary of Tourism of Alagoas) and the tourism market (tripadvisor), as well as in newspapers in the state of Alagoas, in addition to an interview with a tour guide and a comparative exercise relating the variables of tourist flow and revenue input at a local inn. The discussions of the results indicate that there are at least three institutions responsible for cultural heritage policies in the municipality: the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (IPHAN), the Alagoas development and tourism department (SEDETUR) and the Piranhas City Hall. Together they work with the categories of tangible and intangible heritage, historic center, environmental heritage. It is concluded that there are some groups that, throughout the cultural heritage and tourism policies in Brazil, have been neglected due to the absence of the resonance of these heritage and tourism policies in the context of Covid-19. For these groups, the pandemic has only generated more inequalities. But, even so, it is possible to observe the effort of the public power and also of private groups and individuals, in promoting income donation policies aimed at reducing the impacts of the pandemic on health and the local economy.