Power Relationship in the Governance of Regional Tourism Organizations in Brazil

Objective: The development of tourism is one the main objectives of managers seeking a greater competitive advantage for destinations. To achieve this objective, the political-institutional structure related to public and private organizations involved in the Brazilian scenario of tourism activities deliberately operate in the format of Regional Tourism Organizations—RTOs, which started in 2004. In this context, the aim of this study arose, which is to analyze the power relations of Regional Tourism Organizations of tourist regions. Design/Methodology: This research adopted a qualitative and quantitative approach, with data collection through documents, laws, reports and information about the RTOs and questionnaires in forms applied to 27 representatives of the public sector, 14 representatives of private sector and six representatives of the third sector, from a total population of 89 active members of the Regional Tourism Organizations: Costa Verde e Mar (state of Santa Catarina), Hortênsias (state of Rio Grande do Sul), and Costa das Dunas (state of Rio Grande do Norte). During the application of the forms, interviews were carried out, totaling 47 interviews with members of the RTOs. Quantitative analyses were generated by mean, mode, absolute and relative frequencies, multiple responses and dispersion graph, with the use of descriptive analyses. The qualitative analyses involving documents were descriptive, and those involving oral information were carried out using analysis of content of Bardin (1977). The different methods that were used in an interrelated manner and helped in the analysis of the data coming from the application of forms (quantitative), official documents (laws/decrees, regulations and statutes), and interviews with actors of the regional tourism organizations (qualitative), enabled the measurement of the effectiveness of the process of management of RTOs in relation to the dimension Power Relationship and the variables analyzed Representativeness, Harmony, Trust and Decision-Making Power. Results: As a result, it was seen that the regional tourism organizations of the tourist regions operate in an effective manner in the public or private sectors and that they involve the management of shared practices by the regional tourism organizations in the destinations studied in terms of representativeness, harmony, trust and decision-making power. Novelty/Value: This research theoretically deepened for the academy the theme of regional governance and power relationship between public and private actors in tourism who are important for the competitive performance of a tourist destination. It also analyzes how the management and governance of regional tourism organizations behaves in terms of power relationships