‘A Piece of Italy’ or ‘St. Paulina’ Land? Tourist Planning in Nova Trento-SC, 1990-2010

Abstract

From 198O's the municipality of Nova Trento, in Santa Catarina, Brazil, became a tourist destination of regional scope, with the appreciation of Trentino-Italian cultural heritage. In the 1990's the beatification and canonization of Santa Paulina and the presence of pilgrims and visitors from Brazil and abroad in the place, changes the tourist model. The objective of this article is to analyze the impacts of the development of religious tourism in the municipality, which has the Sanctuary of Santa Paulina as its main attraction. We chose a qualitative research, which uses bibliographic sources and content analysis, to generate a SWOT matrix of the destination. It was identified the absence of adequate planning involving the main actors in this process, the linkage of destination exclusively with the Santa Paulina `brand' and potentialities to be developed with adequate planning. Although relevant in state and national tourism, the case still requires more studies and scientific research to understand its development process and proposition of readjustments of the current format.