The right to leisure and the city: the experience of a social tourism project in Brazil

An extension project has provided tourist experiences for students/staff of Fluminense Federal University who have some limitations. This article is the result of an investigation of how the tours influenced the daily life of the people who participated. It is an exploratory qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with the tourists who visited some tourist spots. The relevance of the study is its demonstration that access to touristic leisure can bring physical, psychic and emotional benefits, such as different perception of places visited previously, change of habits, and possibility of experiencing contemplative moments to escape from everyday problems. The results show that access to the different tourist attractions and cultural facilities brought different contributions and perspectives. Subjects to the stress of the academic routine, the practice of touristic leisure helps them to ameliorate emotional/physical exhaustion and the sense of belonging, in relation to the university and the places visited.