Ecotourism and accessibility: a trail in LIBRAS

Abstract

The article aims to discuss and report the experience of planning and offering an interpretative trail of ecotourism for a group of deaf people, as well as presenting their impressions about the activity and accessibility in ecotourism. This is an action carried out by the Ecotourism Laboratory, of the Heritage and Socio-Environmental Tourism course, at the Federal University of Tocantins, Campus de Arraias. The methodology applied had a qualitative approach, with a descriptive character, with field work and the application of a questionnaire to the participating public. As a result, it was observed that the deaf community often fails to carry out tourist activities simply because of the lack of adequate communication and that social inclusion within tourism in general needs improvements in terms of physical and professional structure. In this context, the interpretive trails proved to be an interesting tool to promote the interaction of the public with the environment, provided that, on the part of the planning of these activities, there are professionals with mastery of the Brazilian Sign Language - LIBRAS, with a view to guaranteeing the full access for the deaf to different areas of leisure and tourism as a right of all citizens.