Structuring a Matrix of Tourism Impacts caused by the development of Agritourism in the Municipality of Santa Rosa de Lima/SC

Abstract

The development of tourism in rural areas, and the evaluation of impacts in the context of environmental planning and territorial organization, are two of the main themes of this article, the objective of which is to structure a matrix of tourism impacts, adapted from the Leopold’s universal matrix model, and applied to the municipality of Santa Rosa de Lima in t Santa Catarina State, Brazil. The structure of the matrix includes all human activities related to tourism development (vertical axis), as well as the biophysical, socio-cultural and economic environments, which are potentially affected by this development (horizontal axis). The structuring of the matrix of impacts is the result of the multi- and interdisciplinary approach conducted in a  2007 study, entitled “Impactos e Riscos do Turismo nas Encostas da Serra Geral Catarinense - o caso de Santa Rosa de Lima” (Impacts and Risks of Tourism on   Serra Geral of Santa Catarina slopes). As final considerations, it forsees the practical application of the matrix of impacts, attributing values of magnitude and importance for each human activity in each of the affected environments . It also mentions the lack of national and international literature on the application of matrix models for evaluating the impacts of tourism activity, a fact which suggests the need for further research.