O interesse público e a promoção turística de atrativos privados: o caso de Currais Novos/RN

Abstract

The government in the tourism sector acts on several fronts to achieve growth and/or improvement of tourism activity in a destination, and tourism promotion is one of its areas of activity. However, it is not uncommon for a destination's attractions to be located on private property. This is the case of the municipality of Currais Novos, where its two main attractions belong to private individuals, Mina Brejuí and Cânion dos Apertados. Thus, the objective of this research is to analyze the performance of the municipal public administration of Currais Novos in promoting tourist attractions located on private property, against the backdrop of the principle of public interest of the Public Administration. The research is exploratory, descriptive, with a qualitative approach to data collected through documentary research and the application of semi-structured interviews with a public manager of the Municipal Secretariat for Economic Development and Tourism (SEMTUR). The results show that SEMTUR seeks to promote private attractions with the public interest of attracting a flow of visitors capable of positively impacting the local economy. However, it seems difficult to define the public interest of the population in the promotion of private attractions.