TEACHING AND SOCIAL POSSIBLITIES IN THE PRACTICE OF RESEARCH

Abstract

This article presents the preliminary results and discusses the methodological and teaching proposals of the study “Perfil do Visitante na Área do Cluster da Serra Gaúcha” (Profile of Visitors to the Tourism Cluster Area of the Rio Grande do Sul Mountains), in its section which is applied to the municipal districts of Caxias do Sul/RS and Bento Conçalves/RS, which included the participation of graduate students in Tourism from the University of Caxias do Sul. The practical experience took place as part the discipline of the I Practical Training Placement in Tourism, in 2004, using the methodology developed by the research project, elaborated by the Masters Degree Program in Tourism of the University of Caxias do Sul and the Department of Tourism and Hotel Management of the same university. The research was carried out in Caxias do Sul/RS and Bento Gonçalves/RS in response to requests from the Municipal Councils. In this condition, previous results were presented at the end of the 2004, some of these generating quite an uproar. Key words: Tourism; Tourism Research; Tourism Education; Practical Training Placement in Tourism; Tourist profile.