The importance of visitors characterization to ecotourism and environmental education actions in Serra do Cipó National Park

Abstract

The aim of this work is to know the visitors of the Serra do Cipó National Park, contributing to the management of ecotourism and actions towards environmental education. The Serra do Cipó National Park is located in a district with the same name that belongs to the Santana do Riacho city, around 100 km away from Belo Horizonte/MG. 53 questionnaires, applied at September 18 and 19 of 2010, where analyzed. It was found that young predominate, with high educational standards and high income, coming from Belo Horizonte and its metropolitan area. Most of them recognize a park's main purposes as well as the importance of visitor's center; they also agree and are willing to follow the rules of nature conservation as well as to participate of the environmental education activities. Despite the lack of a correct concept of ecotourism more than half of the visitors consider themselves as ecotourists. It's advisable the use of ecotourism principles and consequently of environmental education to the actions developed by the Serra do Cipó National Park in its public use. Those observations lead to believe that tourism can be truly economic, social, cultural and ecologically sustainable, and also a source of environmental conservancy.