2. Marketing Communication Tools and Cultural Tourism in the Northeast of Brazil: the ‘forró pé de serra’ of Salvador/BA

The aim of this study is to discover how forró artists/bands in Salvador-BA, who work with forró pé de serra - considered the original rhythm and form in which execution of the music is based on the accordion, zabumba and triangle - use marketing communication tools to disseminate their work, reach their target audience and exert an influence on the cultural tourism market. The article presents the cultural tourism market in the northeast, forró, concepts of cultural production and marketing (communication and advertising) to set against the participants’ insights. This research, an exploratory and qualitative multiple case study, interviewed three artists/bands for this purpose. As a result, the range of marketing communication used by the actors of this research and their influence on the cultural tourism market was observed. Different uses were identified on account of their management styles. Bands which have greater knowledge and use of marketing and communication tools had a wider audience and higher profits in the groups studied. Furthermore, this research helps to reveal how forró production in Salvador-BA operates.