Diagnosis of the profile and experiences of visitors to the Seridó UNESCO Global Geopark, in NE Brazil

Abstract

The visitor's number quantification in geoparks' territories is essential to the local management and to define tourism's public policies to prioritize areas according with the visitors flux. At the Seridó UNESCO Global Geopark, that includes six municipalities in the Rio Grande do Norte state countryside, in the Brazilian northeast, was developed a e-form for guides on tourism and local conductors. In this sense, it's possible identify the visitors that are going to the territory with the geopark as attractive motivation. The form with seven fields is available for all professionals, being shared directly with the enrolled with the geopark staff, but also inserted on the website and the official communication channels. Was possible to measure approximately ten thousands of visitors through 2022, relationed to the ecotourism, geotourism and pedagogic tourism practice. The results showed the strong touristic presence of RN visitors, on the other hand presenting visitors of the Northeast, South and Southeast state's regions, besides of foreigners visitors. The two sites with higher visitation are the Cânions dos Apertados and Serra Verde geosites. The data obtained allowed an analysis of the visitors profile at the Seridó UNESCO Global Geopark and their main attractives, that's mean an improvement for the local touristic planning and development of promotion actions as well.