ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses tourism and hospitality higher education in Brazil identifying distinct phases of development and future challenges. However, prior to undertaking this analysis it is appropriate to briefly discuss the history of higher education in Brazil and the historical influences that have shaped its development. Until the early nineteenth century, the young elite of Brazil had sought European university education. The first Brazilian universities were created after 1808, when Brazil became the headquarters of the Portuguese Kingdom. The creation of the Continental Blockade imposed by Napoleon Bonaparte prevented the universities of Coimbra, Bologna, and Paris amongst others from accepting Brazilian students. These first Brazilian universities were created within priority areas of study in a colony that up until then had depended totally upon Portugal for its supply of higher education graduates. Initially medical courses emerged (1808), then Arts (1820) and Legal Sciences or Law (1827). The universities, or institutes, were isolated from their professional nature and had an elitist character that served the children of colonial aristocracy. At the time of the Brazilian Republic (1889) 14 such institutions had been created.