Turismo, políticas públicas e desenvolvimento: uma avaliação do programa de regionalização do turismo nas cinco regiões turísticas do Rio Grande do Norte (2004-2014)

Abstract

The growing importance of tourism while an economic activity that invigorates the economy of several places has increasingly provided planned interventions by the State. In the case of Brazil, tourism is only a prominent part of government planning with the creation of the Ministry of Tourism (MTur) in 2003. This is the definitive moment when the Tourism Regionalization Program (PRT) is conceived as a structuring Current National Policy of the sector. The confirmation of the fragile literature developed so far on how to evaluate tourism public policies, as well as the need to measure the processes and results obtained with the PRT in the five tourist regions of the State, with the same evaluation criteria, motivated us to carry out the research "Tourism, Public Policies and Development: An evaluation of the Program of Regionalization of Tourism in the five tourist regions of Rio Grande do Norte (2004-2014)", whose overall objective was to evaluate the implementation of the Tourism Regionalization Program in the period 2004 to 2014 in RN. Specifically, it aimed at: a) Analyzing the institutional design of the PRT; b) Understand the geographical, economic, socio-cultural and public investment situation in the municipalities of each RN tourist region; c) Assess the degree of effectiveness according to the evaluation axes and respective indicators within the chosen regions and municipalities and d) Identify the elements that facilitate and impede the results of the Program at the regional and municipal levels. The methodological process used included the preparation of an evaluation matrix for the implementation of the Program, as well as bibliographical review, documentary research, secondary data collection and field research with visits to the cities and regions surveyed, participation in meetings of tourism councils and implementation of interviews. The results presented indicate that the PRT presents in the process of its implementation low effectiveness and results that are below its possibilities in the tourist regions of the State due to insufficient material, human and financial resources during its implementation, as well as the fragility with which the necessary institutional articulations are (be National, State, Regional and Municipal).