Turismo na Área de Represa de Ibitinga no Rio Tietê: Trajetória evolutiva em Arealva, São Paulo, Brasil

Abstract

This article analyses tourist uses of Tiete River waterfront in Arealva City (São Paulo, Brazil) from 1960 until 2009 (when Ibitinga Dam was built). It is an exploratory and explicative research, grounded on bibliographic and documentary sources as well as interviews with officials and old dwellers in town, Internet research and in loco observation. Regional tourism evolution is analysed along four stages, with special attention to the beach under local government control (Praia Municipal) as a tourist and leisure attraction, which is at present in decay, at the same moment that second homes and urbanizations begin to grow at Tiete riverbanks. Lack of investments and ordination of tourist and public use are indicators that fluvial tourism does not seem to be a priority for public policies.