“Where fantasy becomes reality”: how tourism forces made Brazil a sexual playground

This paper examines the political economy of tourism representations and destination imaging in Brazil and its effect on tourism impacts in the country. The central argument is that the way Brazil and its women are represented in tourist images has an important effect on how they are consumed. By investigating the representation of Brazil and its women during colonial times by Europeans, by the Brazilian Government and by the contemporary Western media, this study explores how these representations have made Brazil a sexual playground for tourists. The study contributes to the tourism literature by concluding that Brazil's image is not a direct outcome of tourism representations alone; rather its destination image is strongly connected with complex historical, political and cultural processes.