The emergence of the mule's role as a beast of burden working in mountain tourism is founded on our appreciation of this species' great attributes as a means of transport in the mountain environment. Our appreciation of mules does not always extend to their care and welfare. This is particularly true of the mountain tourism industry in Morocco, where this study is situated. Why has there been a collective absencing of the mule from the consciences of those involved in this industry? In seeking to answer this question and in moving towards the question of how the mountain tourism industry can be more present to the mule and to mule welfare, this thesis explores the multiple ways in which we know the mule. Drawing on a ten-year engagement with the industry, extensive ethnographic fieldwork in the High Atlas and an Action Research initiative supporting tour operators as they develop and implement welfare policy and practice, this thesis explores how mule welfare can be viewed as emerging from a multiplicity of practices that, in failing to cohere, become subject to negotiation and ontological politics. An alternative community approach based on dialogue is evoked that might allow a consensus to emerge over how welfare should be practised. The thesis focuses on the quality of the relationship between mules and humans. It emphasises the importance of genuine meeting and dialogue and the need for spaces and places in which mules and humans can come together to identify how they can establish relationships based on mutual trust and understanding rather than on control and domination. In prototyping better relationships between mules, muleteers and their employers, this thesis offers the mountain tourism industry transformative pathways toward a more equitable and sustainable co-creative project.

The thesis acquaints with issues and problems of research on tourism, summarizes existing knowledge and development of this theme. It also addresses the issue of institutional, legislative and financial security of research in the Czech Republic (research in general and specifically research on tourism) and the current problems with which the research on tourism meets in the Czech Republic. The thesis also maps out the research activities of some foreign institutions and organizations. Part of the thesis forms the design of the concept "research on tourism" definition and its division into basic and applied research.

O presente estudo intitulado: Turismo e seus discursos: Percepção e Atribuição na Cidade de Caxias do Sul/RS, trata-se de uma pesquisa exploratória que tem por objetivo analisar as percepções que o trabalhador do setor hoteleiro de Caxias do Sul possui sobre o Turismo nesta cidade. No referencial teórico da pesquisa são apresentados os conceitos e premissas do Turismo, assim como da Psicologia Social e dos seus construtos percepção e atitude, além da Teoria da Atribuição, base teórica do estudo. A pesquisa de campo, de corte qualitativo, investiga a percepção dos sujeitos sobre o Turismo, englobando conceitos, a relação de Caxias do Sul com o Turismo, atribuições sobre o sucesso e/ou fracasso de Caxias do Sul para o Turismo e atitude dos trabalhadores em relação ao Turismo. Nos resultados da pesquisa, aponta-se que os sujeitos não consideram satisfatória a relação de Caxias do Sul com a atividade turística, quando a cidade é comparada a municípios vizinhos, atribuindo, entre outros fatores, ao fato que outros municípios estão permanentemente na mídia e ao fato da atividade industrial ser predominante em Caxias do Sul. / Submitted by Marcelo Teixeira (mvteixeira@ucs.br) on 2014-05-05T19:35:35Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Juliana Dartora.pdf: 954079 bytes, checksum: 99d7f8c96ea94d1db3a627a00ae0223e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-05T19:35:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Juliana Dartora.pdf: 954079 bytes, checksum: 99d7f8c96ea94d1db3a627a00ae0223e (MD5) / This study entitled: Tourism and its Speeches: Perception and Attribution in the city of Caxias do Sul/RS, reports on an exploratory research that has as objective to analyze perceptions that hotel workers in Caxias do Sul have about tourist activity in this city. In the theoretical part of the research, some Tourism concepts and implications are presented, beyond Social Psychology and its constructs attitude and perception, as well as Attribution Theory, basis for the study. The research, with qualitative data, investigates the perceptions of the subjects on Tourism, analyzing concepts, the relationship between tourism and Caxias do Sul, attributions of success or failure of Caxias do Sul in Tourism, as well as the attitude of hotel workers to Tourism. Previous results suggest that the subjects do not consider satisfactory the relationship between Caxias do Sul and the tourist activity, if the city is compared to neighbor towns, attributing, among other reasons, to the fact that other towns are constantly in the media e to the fact that the industrial activity is predominant in Caxias do Sul.

O presente estudo intitulado: Turismo e seus discursos: Percepção e Atribuição na Cidade de Caxias do Sul/RS, trata-se de uma pesquisa exploratória que tem por objetivo analisar as percepções que o trabalhador do setor hoteleiro de Caxias do Sul possui sobre o Turismo nesta cidade. No referencial teórico da pesquisa são apresentados os conceitos e premissas do Turismo, assim como da Psicologia Social e dos seus construtos percepção e atitude, além da Teoria da Atribuição, base teórica do estudo. A pesquisa de campo, de corte qualitativo, investiga a percepção dos sujeitos sobre o Turismo, englobando conceitos, a relação de Caxias do Sul com o Turismo, atribuições sobre o sucesso e/ou fracasso de Caxias do Sul para o Turismo e atitude dos trabalhadores em relação ao Turismo. Nos resultados da pesquisa, aponta-se que os sujeitos não consideram satisfatória a relação de Caxias do Sul com a atividade turística, quando a cidade é comparada a municípios vizinhos, atribuindo, entre outros fatores, ao fato que outros municípios estão permanentemente na mídia e ao fato da atividade industrial ser predominante em Caxias do Sul. / This study entitled: Tourism and its Speeches: Perception and Attribution in the city of Caxias do Sul/RS, reports on an exploratory research that has as objective to analyze perceptions that hotel workers in Caxias do Sul have about tourist activity in this city. In the theoretical part of the research, some Tourism concepts and implications are presented, beyond Social Psychology and its constructs attitude and perception, as well as Attribution Theory, basis for the study. The research, with qualitative data, investigates the perceptions of the subjects on Tourism, analyzing concepts, the relationship between tourism and Caxias do Sul, attributions of success or failure of Caxias do Sul in Tourism, as well as the attitude of hotel workers to Tourism. Previous results suggest that the subjects do not consider satisfactory the relationship between Caxias do Sul and the tourist activity, if the city is compared to neighbor towns, attributing, among other reasons, to the fact that other towns are constantly in the media e to the fact that the industrial activity is predominant in Caxias do Sul.