Tourism and Regional Integration in Historical Perspective: A Look at MERCOSUR; [Turismo e integração regional em perspectiva histórica: um olhar sobre o MERCOSUR]

Ramos E.R.A. · Revista de Historia (Costa Rica) (2026) · DOI: 10.15359/ep9w5h55

Resumen

Tourism constitutes a strategic vector for understanding the processes of regional integration in South America, although its treatment within MERCOSUR has historically been uneven. Despite regulatory advances, a gap remains in the historiography linking the evolution of tourism to the bloc's institutional and discursive processes. This article aims to analyse how the historical evolution of South American tourism has been articulated through the processes of institutionalization and regionalism within MERCOSUR. It adopts a qualitative study with an interpretivist approach, grounded in the documentary review of regulations and the analysis of 1579 institutional news items collected using Python. The findings reveal a sector recognized as a multi-destination and cultural space yet marked by fragmented policies and intermittent discursive presence. It is concluded that tourism has been gradually incorporated into MERCOSUR's normative and discursive architecture, although it has not yet consolidated itself as a sustained axis of regional integration. Esta obra está bajo una Licencia Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa