Competitividade de destinos turísticos e o imperativo sustentável: avaliação de dimensões e atributos condicionantes no Pólo Costa das Dunas, RN, Brasil

Being available as a tourist destination is a necessary condition but not enough for the expansion and success of tourism activity. To be successful, tourism requires investment, inputs, appropriate planning and management, like any other economic activity. A fundamental goal of the destination management is to understand how the competitiveness of a tourist destination can be improved and sustained. Competitive position of tourism can be measured and assessed by various models. Evaluating the indicators of competitiveness of a tourist destination involves a multivariate analysis, ranging from issues directly related to tourism activity itself to the indirect factors. These are elements that are interrelated and that together will point out the competitive condition of this destination. From the definition and characterization of competitiveness, sustainability and management in the context of tourist destinations, understood as the main concepts of this study, we present the main theoretical and methodological models of assessment of competitiveness of tourist destinations in the literature and represent the state of the issue in the scientific treatment of the subject. These models, designed by researchers from several countries and applied in different tourist destinations, are confronted about their structure, indicators considered and localities in which they were applied. The aim of this study was to know and evaluate the condition of tourist competitiveness of the destination Pólo Costa das Dunas, from the constraints attributes of superior performance of the evaluation model of tourist competitiveness of destinations Competenible, suggested by Mazaro, and that suit the requirements of international market aware of the strength and importance of sustainability. The condition of competitiveness of tourist destination in Rio Grande do Norte Pólo Costa das Dunas was moderate. The competitive strengths and weaknesses of the destination Pólo Costa das Dunas revealed through the dozens of sustainable attributes of the model Competenible showed guidelines and initiatives that can be taken to guide strategic decisions related to their planning and management. Thus, this study should serve as support for strategic planning and long-term management of the sector and as a crucial tool for making decisions related to public policies, sectoral investments, monitor processes, strategic planning, direction and control of the local and regional tourism development of destinations

Feira livre e circuitos da economia urbana: um estudo da feira da Pedra, em São Bento (PB)

The Feira da Pedra is an extension of the open fair of São Bento in the State of Paraiba. It is a system of trade in textile goods produced by textile industry in manufacturing of hammocks and derivatives of this industry, present in some cities in the state of Paraiba and Rio Grande do Norte, as a survival strategy, inserted in the list of tertiary and retail of the urban economics of this city. It is thereby aimed to discuss about the urban economics, reflecting on the open fair system from the two circuits of urban economy, mainly in the context of the dynamics of the current period of geographic space, the technical-scientific-informational period, as the specific empirical object, the Feira da Pedra of São Bento (PB). For this, this research was carried out in two stages of operation: a) surveys of secondary data and b) primary data collection which were reported an operational triad: I) literature; II) documentary research, and III) research of field. The presence of the Feira da Pedra in São Bento has shown us one of the most important characteristics of this city, in order to present major economic, social and cultural benefits to the local population, and contribute to (re) production of sertanejo space, making lower part of the circuit of its urban economy. This activity has entailed several dynamics for urban space in this city, mainly because of attracting large numbers of people, carrying typical actions of its relationship with the urban space are são-bentense and built environment. Thus, its importance is not only a local and regional phenomenon, but also a cultural reference of a place in the geographical area of many paraibanos and norte-rio-grandenses subjects, as the case of this activity has brought to its weekly routine, this product resulting from the textile working of this area of Sertão Paraibano and Seridó Potiguar