Brazilian tourist cities like Ilhabela grapple with balancing tourism and environmental preservation, with proposals to charge visitors an environmental fee. Ilhabela's mayor supports it as fair, while a USP researcher criticizes it as a social barrier. The debate, published in Folha de S.Paulo, highlights high season impacts on São Paulo's north coast.
The debate on charging an environmental fee in tourist cities featured prominently in Folha de S.Paulo on December 19, 2025. On one side, Ilhabela's mayor (PL-SP), Tom Augusto, president of the North Coast Tourism Consortium, argues in favor. He notes that these cities receive a visitor flow multiple times their local population during peak seasons, straining infrastructure and generating more waste. In Ilhabela, with 36,500 residents per IBGE, 1 million visitors are expected from December to Carnival, with waste volumes around 2,000 tons per month. 'The logic is simple and fair: those who use the territory contribute to its maintenance,' writes Augusto, stressing the fee as a balancing tool, like in national and international destinations. Funds would support cleaning, waste management, sensitive area protection, and environmental education.
On the other side, USP professor and tourism policy researcher Ligia Café opposes it. She views the fee as 'revenue shortcuts disguised as preservation virtue' that penalize specific tourist profiles, especially low-income ones. Café points out tourism already contributes via taxes like ISS and ICMS, and São Paulo has allocations for Tourist Interest Municipalities (MITs) and spas. Citing Venice, where the fee didn't significantly reduce visitors, she advocates better management of existing resources over new charges. 'Sustainability is not built by limiting low-income people's access to leisure,' she states.
Ilhabela plans to implement the fee this summer, reflecting common dilemmas in coastal cities like Caraguatatuba and Maresias. The debate spurs discussions on sustainable tourism without compromising accessibility.
