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Estudios y perspectivas en turismo
On-line version ISSN 1851-1732
Abstract
MIRANDA DE OLIVEIRA ARRUDA GOMES, Danielle; DA SILVA, Áurio Lúcio Leocádio; COSTA CAVALCANTE, Adriana and LIMA FONTELES, Auridete. A Multicolor Aquarelle: Brazil`s Design Painted by Foreign Tourists. Estud. perspect. tur. [online]. 2010, vol.19, n.5, pp.635-655. ISSN 1851-1732.
The aim of this paper was to identify the image of Brazil transmitted word-of-mouth by Italian tourists. The research was motivated by the fact that the largest source for organizing a trip to Brazil is information gathered by word-of mouth and the fact that Italy is one of the four largest tourist source countries with 75% male tourist and that the Brazilian Northeast is the first destination among Brazilian regions, according to data from Embratur (2010). This study is based on word-of-mouth marketing (Kotler & Keller, 2006) and the methodological approach was based on the constructivist perspective. The Ethnographic descriptive and interpretive approach was used complemented by a qualitative research using the technique of in-depth interviews (Malhotra, 2006). The results suggest that the information spread by Italian tourists through the word-of-mouth information, favor the attraction of more and more tourists who travel alone in search of leisure. This study confirms the one conducted by Embratur (2009) which shows significant growth in the number of male Italian tourists in Brazil's northeast. Moreover, it contradicts the information publicized about violence abroad. Those having visited Brazil before consider the country as a safe place, friendly and welcoming. It can also be concluded that the image conveyed by Italian tourists is centered on the concept of sexual tourism and corresponds to a watercolor of warm and sensual colors with an emphasis on charm, freedom, virility, power and social enhancement, carnival, impunity and mix of seasonings.
Keywords : Image; Travel destination; Brazil; Information word-of-mouth.