Brand identity as a tourist attraction from the perception of tourism managers

Abstract

The tourist activity presents high values in the country, especially in the high season months, the city of Natal/Rio Grande do Norte (RN) and the beach of Ponta Negra/RN present good positions in the tourism rankings. The study begins by bringing contributions on brand, tourism and image and aims to analyze the brand value of Ponta Negra/RN as a tourist attraction from the perception of tourism managers, based on the assumption that the beach has been losing its value according to the perception of professionals. For methodological purposes, the research is characterized by a qualitative, exploratory and descriptive approach, having as its target audience professionals with a bachelor degree in Tourism who work, live or have visited Ponta Negra/RN. As results some reflections emerged throughout the research, such as the questioning about tourism professionals not mentioning local attractions as alternatives to Ponta Negra/RN. It was noticed that the beach keeps its value, but it needs tools so that this good positioning is maintained in the future and does not confirm the hypothesis that Ponta Negra/RN is seen as an attractive place and with tourist value, but that factors such as infrastructure, insecurity, among other points, are influencing the fall of its position among the attractions of the city and in the way it is perceived by the tourism managers. It was possible to observe that the image of Natal/RN and the Ponta Negra beach/RN continue well positioned among the tourism managers and among the tourists, given the results of the questionnaire combined with the results in the official documents, concluding that the beach has not been losing its value, but some factors may influence the fall of its image in the future. Thus, the study can be expanded to other professionals, such as tourism guides, through a qualitative research, in order to approach the theme with more detail on the subject and the results.