The preferences of the people from Mato Grosso do Sul in choosing tourist destinations: an analysis on the establishment of policy guidelines and competitiveness for the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

Abstract

This article was aimed to reveal the preferences of Mato Grosso do Sul inhabitants in choosing their tourist destinations. The specific goals were sought to identifythe decision criteria such as; discovering the preference in regard to the choice of tourist destinations according to the main existing tourist segments in the Market and establishing policy guidelines for the promotion of tourism in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul. For this research tourists from the most populous cities of the state (Campo Grande, Corumbá, Dourados e Três Lagoas) were interviewed, totalling a sample of approximately six hundred respondents. As a result, it was observed that people from Mato Grosso do Sul are mostly eclectic in the sense of choosing their destination, having no significant preference between one or another segment; 78% of respondents have already visited one or more tourist destination in the state; 30% consider prices too high, which was the most mentioned reason. Finally, we can say that if the tourist trade focuses more its marketing on the sul-mato-grossense the flow of tourists traveling inside their own state can increase considerably, developing cultural, social and economic benefits.