Tourism and environmental sustainability in the community of Barra Grande, Cajueiro da Praia, Piauí (PI)

Abstract

The community of Barra Grande, tourist destination located in Cajueiro da Praia, Piauí (PI), was the object of investigation of this study. Tourism, in this region, increased creating structural, social and environmental change. The aim of the research was to analyze the environmental impacts of tourism in Barra Grande considering the Environmental Sustainability Indicators of BIGS (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics). It was conducted a bibliographic and documentary survey about public politics for tourism and environment, besides the application of semi-structured interviews with eighteen hotels diagnosing three indicators: water supply, sewage disposal, and collection and disposal of solid waste which measure pressure parameters (impacts) to the natural environment, qualified the state of that environment and the existence of response mechanisms to minimize the impacts. The scientific relevance consists in the analysis of sustainability through indicators based on Model PER (Pressure-State-Response), adopted by OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), in order to conduct strategic actions to solve environmental problems. Regarding the preliminary results, it realizes that the policies have part of their normalizations not carried out in practice. Concerning the field collection in the hotels it was identified that they agree with two of evaluated qualitative parameters, proving that the destination needs to improve as sustainability. Finally, it is expected that data may contribute to tourism planning, as well as building elements to support discussions, new research approaches on the viability and adherence of sustainable tourism segments in Piauí context or in other regions of Brazil.