Characterization of the potential demand of geotourists in Lençóis, state of Bahia, Brazil: Serra do Sincorá Geopark Project
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Abstract
Geotourism has in its geodiversity its main touristic use. Understanding consumer demand is essential to direct strategies for the elaboration of touristic products and plan the touristic offer, aiming to serve tourists effectively and satisfy their preferences and needs. The characterization of the tourist serves to segment the touristic market, contributing to make geotourism a touristic segment in Brazil and worldwide.
This research aimed to analyze the demand of geotourists to provide a contribution to the management and planning of geotourism in the territory of the Serra do Sincorá Geopark Project, Lençóis, Bahia, Brazil. A self-administered questionnaire was used as a research instrument, which was distributed at random to 135 tourists approached on the Baderna Street, Pedras Street, Pedras Square, and Sete de Setembro Avenue Square (Horácio de Matos Square) who were seated at the tables between 19:30 and 22:30 h during 15 days of the second semester of 2018. The demand of geotourists – the one with a strong affinity for the practice of geotourism – was determined from the hierarchical cluster analysis and multiple comparisons between groups based on attitudes, behaviors, preference, and importance of travel analyzed from the perspective of social psychology. The results allowed identifying that 29% of tourists are geotourists; with female predominance; they do not seek luxury or elite environments, but singularity and authenticity; protected environment; good touristic service with a fair price; basic infrastructure in the attractions; and they do not have geoscientific knowledge. It is expected that our results will be used by public and private managers in the territory of the Serra do Sincorá Geopark and the Serra do Sincorá Geopark Association, and that the characterization of the demand will contribute to the consolidation of geotourism as a touristic segment in Brazil. This research can be expanded to other geopark territories.
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