THE INTERNET AND THE PROMOTION OF TOURISM ACTIVITY

Abstract

This is a study on the influence of the Internet on the development of tourism activity, taking as a reference the municipal district of Porto Seguro, Bahia. The main objective is to identify how the municipal district is organized on the Internet, proposing to locals and tourists a detailed outline of the tourism attractions and socio-economic factors which promote the local culture. With this aim, it carries out an analysis of the current virtual representations of the municipal district, identifying the contents presented, and exploring the characteristics of the environment and the categories of attitudes used in the dynamics of the websites. The analysis was carried using the non-probabilistic intentional method by ethnographic judgment. It was observed that to make a town available on the Internet, a study is needed on the physical space, which should take in the tourism planning actions, the day-to-day life of the town and the image of the locality, as well as the views of the population on the environment, demonstrating a process of democratization of information and digital inclusion. Key words: Virtual town; Tourism promotion; Democratization of information.