Abstract
In Brazil, there are more than 20.000 caves registered in the National Register of Speleological Information (CANIE), of which a few hundred are used formally or informally for tourist visits and only 44 possess the formal instrument that regulates the management of this use, the Speleological Management Plan (PME). This implies positive and negative aspects for the sector and challenges for the management entities of public and private tourist caves. Therefore, this research was carried out with the aim of presenting proposals to improve the sustainability of speleotourism in the country. This is a case study of five tourist caves located in Minas Gerais. The data collection took place through literature and field research, which involved direct observation and interviews with managers using a semi-structured questionnaire. Subsequently, the data was organized and interpreted using content analysis as a method. The results underscore the potentials and limitations of each type of tourist cave management and suggest that the sustainability of speleotourism in Brazil will be achieved through the consolidation of effective partnerships between the government and private entities.
Keywords
Speleological tourism; Underground tourism; Recreational caving; Tourist caves; Sustainable tourism