A COMPETITIVIDADE DAS DESTINAÇÕES TURÍSTICAS: O CASO DE FOZ DO IGUAÇU (PR), BRASIL

Abstract

Competitiveness has been a priority in the reference literature related to economics, management and strategic management. It is a complex concept and can be analyzed in several ways: in countries or companies, and internal or external macroeconomic or micro level. This theory of competition emerged with the scientific technical revolution in the third stage of capitalism and the globalization of markets and information technology gained ground in other areas. This paper addresses the specific topic of study of the competitiveness of tourist destinations. The focus of the research study focuses on the municipality of Foz do Iguacu and aims at analyzing the process of developing the tourist destination of Foz do Iguaçu - Paraná - Brazil, under the context of competitiveness. The theoretical framework is based on the themes: competitiveness of tourism destinations and their models, planning, tourism and destination stewardship. The research is characterized by the method of case study, being the object of study the city of Foz do Iguacu, with exploratory and descriptive. To read the tourism system, we used the Systemic Model of Anjos (2004), to facilitate the demarcation of the territory and understanding of the subject. After this analysis, we determined a minimal matrix of indicators of competitiveness and this matrix was applied to the object of study, plus interviews with the managers of the tourist destination in order to confirm the research data. The results led to an analysis identifying the destination in question has elements that make up the characterization of a competitive destination, however, still has areas to be appropriate