Ecoturismo: percepções e práticas em municípios com diferentes níveis de desenvolvimento da atividade

Abstract

The present work was developed aiming to understand the differences between the involvement, social participation and perceptions related to ecotourism practices, through analysis in municipalities with different levels of development of the referred activity. For this, the thesis is organized in three chapters, videlicet: Chapter I, which describes the bases for the proposed studies, by means of theoretical reference on the premises of ecotourism. Chapter II, structured as an article, analyzes the level at which autochthonous individuals relate to natural environments with ecotourism potential and how they perceive the initial phase of their development, as well as it discusses the dynamics of contact and livingness from the look of the young, in an interval of nine years. In order to do so, we made use of iconography, with the presentation of ten photographs of environments with ecotourism potential from Luminárias - MG, presented in 2007 and 2016 to high school students, with the application of a semi-structured questionnaire. The participant observation technique was also used. As a result, it was noted that natural environments with ecotourism potential are recognized at different levels and considered as highly attractive, but autochthonous individuals maintain low involvement with their touristic use. And chapter III, also structured as an article, analyzes the ecotourism practices and pro-conservation actions associated with these, as well as the social actors involved with them, their perceptions and interventions in a place where the development of the activity is considered consolidated. Thus, the municipality of Carrancas - MG, were chosen as the study area. To select the social actors, the sampling technique of snowball was used. Data were collected using Rapid Participatory Diagnostic (DRP) methodological tools, analyzed with qualitative and quantitative approach. To validate the study, public meetings were held with presentation and discussion of the results obtained in the research, which included aspects related to the dissemination of the ecotourism destination, the perception of the visitors, local community, and the evaluation of the results. The research was submitted and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Lavras, under report nº: 2,085,412.