Banca de DEFESA: RALYSON ADYSON MARQUES DA COSTA SOARES

Analysis of the Natal/RN destination in the systemic perspective of smart tourism destinations

Smart Tourist Destination; Smart Tourism; Smart City; ICTs; Destination Management

A Smart Tourism Destination (STD) can be understood as an innovative and accessible tourist space that integrates technological infrastructure to guarantee the sustainable development of the destination, promote the interaction and integration of tourists to improve the experience at the destination, as well as provide management tools for the stakeholders involved in the activity. The present study aims to analyze Natal-RN as a Smart Tourism Destination based on the perception of the members of the Municipal Tourism Council (CMTur) using as a basis the systemic model for the development and evaluation of STD proposed by Ivars-Baidal, Solsona Monzonís and Giner Sanchez (2016). The systemic model is composed of three levels (Strategic-Relational, Instrumental, and Applied), which are interrelated and present indicators such as Governance; Sustainability; Innovation; Connectivity and Sensing; Information System and Applications, and Tourist Solutions, which guided the research. Therefore, it is descriptive-exploratory research with a qualitative approach using an inductive method. To capture the perception of managers' perception of the Natal-RN destination in the light of smart destinations, data collection was carried out through interviews with a semi-structured questionnaire prepared from the adaptation of the dimensions and axes of the systemic model of STD, as well as how the documentary survey was carried out on rules and regulations through the Master Plan of the City of Natal (Complementary Law nº. 208, of March 7, 2022), and the meeting minutes of the CMTur meetings for the 2021/2022 biennium. Data analysis was performed using content analysis supported by the Iramuteq software (version 0.7 alpha 2). From this perspective, it can be seen that the main barriers faced in the Natal-RN destination from the perspective of an STD are related to infrastructure, accessibility, security, connectivity and sensing. As an opportunity, the role of governance that operates in the destination stands out, and which already knows the methodology of smart destinations, as well as the role of the master plan, as it includes guidelines that aim to raise the level of intelligence of the city and, therefore, of the destination. This research is expected to contribute to the relevant theoretical training for the theme of smart tourist destinations and their application in the development of destinations, raising the degree of tourist intelligence, mainly in the Brazilian reality, more specifically for the city of Natal-RN that is being pointed out as a destination on the rise, needing to innovating in planning and management, with the methodology of intelligent destinations being an alternative to innovate and generating even more competitiveness for the destination.