Tourism-driven inclusive growth – insights from Brazil’s Northeast

The concept of inclusive growth focuses on the relationship between economic growth, poverty and inequality and has started to receive greater attention in tourism research. Bakker, presents a Tourism-driven Inclusive Growth Diagnostic Framework (T-DIGD) to systematically analyse factors that constrain tourism’s ability to drive inclusive growth and identify policy priorities at national level. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study applies the T-DIGD to a local destination in the Northeast of Brazil to assess its practical applicability, identify any gaps, and enhance its value as a diagnostic tool for tourism-driven inclusive growth. Findings confirm the framework’s strength in analysing constraints for tourism-driven inclusive growth in a systematic manner. It is argued that governance, power in terms of access to networks and connections, as well as the political economy should be more explicitly incorporated into the T-DIGD, and further attention should be given to equality in non-monetary outcomes of tourism opportunities.