Influência dos intermediários de distribuição de produtos turísticos no processo de decisão do meio de hospedagem pelo consumidor

This study examines the complex hotel buyer decision process in front of the tourism distribution channels. Its objective is to describe the influence level of the tourism marketing intermediaries, mainly the travel agents and tour operators, over the hotel decision process by the buyer-tourist. The data collection process was done trough a survey with three hundred brazilian tourists hosted in nineteen hotels of Natal, capital of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The data analysis was done using some multivariate statistic techniques as correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, factor analysis and multiple discriminant analysis. The research characterizes the hotel services consumers profile and his trip, and identifying the distribution channels used by them. Furthermore, the research verifies the intermediaries influence exercised over hotel buyer decision process, looking for identify causality relations between the influence level and the buyer profile. Verifies that information about hotels available on internet reduces the probability that this influence can be practiced; however it was possible identifying those consumers considers this information complementary and non-substitutes than the information from intermediaries. The characteristics of the data do not allow indentifying the factors that constraint the intermediaries influence neither identifying discriminant functions of the specific distribution channel choice by consumers. The study concludes that consumers don t agree in have been influenced by intermediaries or don t know if they have, still considering important to consult them and internet doesn t substitute their function as information source

O city marketing em Natal/RN e a construção da imagem da cidade

The growing importance of tourism in overall economic activity worldwide has favored the intensification of competition among cities that seek to create environments attractive to tourists and potential investors. It has been common practice to import characteristics of the business environment in the public management of cities. The city marketing is a key tool used by public leaders to promote a linkage between the tourism image and urban image and involves, in addition to promoting the image of the city, the planning of interventions in urban space, trying to formulate a positive image of the city able to facilitate the deployment of capital. This research seeks to understand the nature of city marketing as part of contemporary urban management and analyzes how is its application in decisions concerning the promotion of tourism in Natal/RN. The approach of this research is qualitative, exploratory and descriptive, in which respondents were the main leaders of two of the official tourism site, the Empresa Potiguar de Promoção Turística and the Secretaria Municipal de Turismo e Desenvolvimento Econômico. It was found that there is a strong articulation of public power with private enterprise in the design and conduct of the actions of urban marketing, that from the survey data show that the behavior of target markets provide guidelines for taking strategic decisions relating to tourism. Sun and sea are some key elements explored to form the image of Natal and to authorize the sale of the city as a tropical paradise. However, there is an increase in the diversification of tourism products, seeking to increase flow to the segments of ecotourism, adventure, business and culture. It s also growing the use of local culture as a tourism product, however, the cultural representation focuses on superficial values and does not bring to light the social and historical richness that the city has. Public authorities use the city marketing strategies as a means able to maximize the attractiveness of Natal urban space to investors, business groups and tourists. It can be observed that urban managers seek solutions that can continuously increase the tours, which often manifests in interventions that focus the tourist areas of the city, in oposition of those who do not contribute to a positive reading of the city, which ultimately generate the worsening of spacial and social inequalities

Entre o cartão-postal e a cidade real: um estudo sobre paisagem e produção imobiliária em Natal/RN

Recent studies concerning the landscape have investigated the most important activities that contribute for its modification and have tried to better understand the society through the marks left by its quotidian. It is understood that singular landscapes constitute the cultural patrimonies of the cities, once they are part of the daily life of the citizens and are present in their social representations. Some contemporary authors defend the preservation of the natural and urban landscape trying, specially, to keep its importance for the local population. Natal is a city where the ambient qualities are well defined and known by the beauty of the area where it is located. Situated just between a river and the sea, the city grew following its geographic characteristics. The Potengi River, the Atlantic Ocean and the vast dunes ecosystem represented natural limits to the urban expansion; at the same time they have favored the development of a landscape pattern marked by the dialectic between the natural elements and the human interventions. However, this relationship changed after the intensification of the high rising development process that took place since the 1960s. The urban legislation tried to preserve the features of the local landscape delimiting Areas for Controlling Building High , destined to protect the scenic value of some parts of the city. On the other hand, the civil construction sector has made constant pressure in sense to abolish or to modify this legal instrument, aiming profits that have increased, in the 1990s, because of the consumption and the qualification of the urban space for tourist activities. It is necessary the raising of new elements to stimulate the quarrel about the landscape preservation, the process of the urban space production and the best way for the legislation implementation. This work tries to raise elements about the subject at local level, in sense to use Natal City experience to contribute for the formulation of indicators to raise the question about the lack of measure for subjective values, for example the cultural and affective value of the landscape. The natural elements inserted in the urban profile, represent strong visual references and supply identity to the town; they are part of the collective imaginary and are detached in the social context of the city. Then, why the preservation of the landscape, that estimates the improvement in the quality of life, is not enough to justify the controlling building high already previewed as part of Natal City Legislation? These questions send us to the approach of the landscape, as a community patrimony, alerting that some of its significant esthetics attributes must be preserved as a legacy for the future generations