The capuchin monkeys in Vassouras/Lençois Maranhenses: irresponsable tourists exchange photographs for chocolate cookies

Abstract

This paper discusses the growing exploration of capuchin monkeys, artificially fed by eager and "irresponsible" tourists in exchange for photographs, selfies, and videos, in the riverside village of Vassouras, in Barreirinhas Lençóis Maranhenses. This study emphasizes the perceptions and reflections of inbound travel agents/operators, who are circumstantially considered the study's sampling units, and this constitutes its subject matter. Following the preliminary theoretical framework, and with regard to the search for answers to this emblematic situation, the Field Research methodology is established, using Semi-Structured interviews, which alternate between open-ended and closed-ended questions. The results indicate evidence of a travel itinerary that appears to lack coherence, particularly given the lack of correlation between its proposal and the Ecological, Sustainable, and Green Tourism activity so widely promoted in the destination. In conclusion, a regrettable case of environmental imbalance is highlighted, which reinforces the “Mass Tourism” model established there, generating impactfull adversities.