THE STANDARD AND FORM OF TOURIST REGIONS IN BRAZIL: THEORETICAL-METHODOLOGICAL PROPOSAL FOR THE REGIONALIZATION OF TOURISM.
Tourism Regionalization Program; Tourist Regions; Territorialization; Planning.
This qualification report aims to present the thesis proposal under development with the PPGE/UFRN. The study contemplates a discussion on the tourist regionalization proposed by the Ministry of Tourism, through the Tourism Regionalization Program, noting the fragility of this process, since the criteria adopted for its definition do not satisfactorily contemplate the geographic principles necessary to regionalize. The conceptual failure and the criteria in the constitution of the Brazilian tourist regionalization causes a mismatch of the norm (regional limits and non-articulated municipalities) with the form-content of the tourist activity. From the identified problem, the objective of the research is to develop a methodology of regionalization from the functional cohesion manifested by the tourist activity. The methodological proposal under construction includes, among other elements, the survey of fixed and tourist flows, seeking to identify the functional coherence in the constitution of tourist regions. The preliminary test of the methodology was carried out in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, showing the inconsistencies of the official regionalization. Subsequently, the state of Pernambuco will be considered in order to deepen the proposed methodology.