Guiding visitors in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park (GO): partnerships and effects on visitation management

• Autor(a) principal: Maboni, Natalia de Oliveira
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Rodrigues, Camila Gonçalves de Oliveira, Canto-Silva, Celson Roberto
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Ecoturismo
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.unifesp.br/index.php/ecoturismo/article/view/15168
• topic: parcerias público-privadas, ecoturismo, condução de visitantes, parques nacionais; public and private partnerships, ecotourism, visitor guides, national parks

The guidance of visitors, carried out by local residents, has been taking shape within the tourism dynamics in national parks. Representing a socioeconomic alternative that aims to reconcile nature conservation and the generation of work and income, the management of national parks, in partnership with other institutions, has been promoting training courses in the guidance of visitors as one of the possibilities for working with tourism. The Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park (Goiás), was one of the first protected natural areas to propose a course in this regard, in 1991. This article sought to understand the role of the guidance of visitors in the dynamics of the Park's visitation, considering the contribution of the activity in the provision of services to support the visitation carried out by local guides and imbrications regarding their relationship with the management of the area. Based on a survey and the analysis of bibliographic references, with an emphasis on recent research carried out in the region and interviews with local guides and environmental analysts of the National Park, the results of the research show a positive relationship between management and visitor guides. The research recorded the work of local guides in a variety of initiatives, such as the management and opening of trails, firefighting, and guiding researchers and schools, among others. The change in the Park's visitation dynamics, due to the beginning of the concession and the collection of tickets, has generated different opinions from guides about this type of partnership, echoing questions regarding the visitation activities that have been implemented and the changes in infrastructure that the concessionaire proposes. Within this perspective, we highlight the importance of promoting participatory, transparent and inclusive management of partnerships in progress in order to strengthen social control through the appreciation of the different initiatives led by the management board, the promotion of research on the visitor's experience, and the encouragement of co-responsibility through the participatory planning of partnerships.