João Pessoa como capital turística: uma análise da marca de destino, meio ambiente e infraestrutura na perspectiva do turista

Abstract

Tourism has consolidated itself as a strategic sector in Paraíba: in 2019, it generated R$ 917.9 million, the highest revenue since monitoring began by Fecomércio-SP, with annual growth 4.6% above the national average. Within this context, this undergraduate thesis aimed to show the perception of tourists who visit and/or have visited João Pessoa regarding the Paraíban capital. The research employed a data collection instrument comprising a sociodemographic profile survey of respondents (education level, residence, frequency of visits, occupation, age, income, and gender) and Likert-scale statements organized into the dimensions of destination image, destination loyalty, and self-image congruence with the destination. The data were subjected to descriptive analysis, ensuring respondents' voluntary participation and anonymity. The evaluation was predominantly positive across the environment, locality, loyalty, and image dimensions, with composite mean indices ranging between 3.76 and 4.09, indicating that the tourist experience generally corresponded to satisfactory visitor experiences. However, a consistent pattern was identified: more immediate and experiential attributes (recreation, hospitality, willingness to recommend, social approval) received the highest scores, while attributes related to infrastructure and public management (transportation, tourist and traffic signage, overall loyalty, identity-related identification) performed worse. Transportation stands out as the city's main structural bottleneck, hospitality as the most highly rated attribute, and a mismatch is observed between the strong willingness to recommend the destination and the satisfactory but comparatively lower behavioral loyalty (intention to return). The study concludes that João Pessoa's tourism relevance is sustained primarily by intangible factors (hospitality, quality of leisure, and positive social impression), while the consolidation of a stronger tourism brand depends on overcoming structural weaknesses (transportation and signage) and strengthening public management institutionally. For future studies, it is suggested to expand the sample using probabilistic techniques, further investigate urban mobility, conduct longitudinal research on behavioral loyalty, carry out qualitative studies on identity and destination, and develop comparisons with other tourist capitals in the Northeast region.