A importância do circuito turístico para o fomento da economia e da preservação ambiental - caso de São Roque de Minas, MG

Abstract

The municipal district of São Roque de Minas, an integrating town of the Serra da Canastra Tourist Circuit, MG, characterized its the proximity to Parque Nacional da Serra da Canastra, of the São Francisco River, by the production of the canastra cheese and coffee, and, recently, the tourism activities. Tourism in order to be better worked demands action taking from inhabitants and the municipal, state and federal governments. The best form of promoting such arrangement is through its participation in a tourist circuit, as a form ofmotivating the incrementation of the economy and the "improvement of the inhabitants' life quality". The present case study aimed at to discover, by means of non probabilistic sampling if the municipal district of São Roque de Minas integrates a tourist circuit and which would be the most "present"; if the fact of participating in a tourist circuit influenced on the development of the municipal district; how they were visualized, by the inhabitants and tourists, the economic and social aspects, before and after the inclusion of the municipal district in the Circuit; if the population was involved in such development process and how and what was improved with the inclusion of the municipal district in the Circuit. The answers were supplied by the local population, tourists, public entities and people linked to trade in that municipal district, such as EMATER, the Chief of Parque Nacional da Serra da Canastra, Boards of directors of the Rural Credit Cooperative Enterprise of São Roque de Minas, IBAMA, SAROMCREDI, Association of Artisans, Commercial Association. São Roque's development has undergone visible economic and social improvements after its inclusion, with the population´s involvement, but there is still a lot to be improved.