Turismo e desenvolvimento nos municípios de Pedra Grande, São Miguel do Gostoso, Touros e Rio do Fogo, no Rio Grande do Norte

Tourism, as an economic activity, is one of the segments that has most contributed to the generation of revenues worldwide, coupled with material and immaterial elements it has become an alternative for the development of several regions. In Rio Grande do Norte it was no different, tourist centers were created in order to contribute to economic growth, the Polo Costa das Dunas (PCD) is a reflection of this planning. Located on the east coast of the state, it has contributed to creating a niche for sun and beach tourism. In this sense, this paper aimed to analyze the extent to which tourism contributes to the economic development of the municipalities of Rio do Fogo, Touros, Sao Miguel do Gostoso and Pedra Grande, located in the PCD. The methodology started from a survey of literature that deals with the subject in question, consultation in the main databases in search of information about the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), tourism enterprises, domestic and international tourist demand, tourist links formal jobs and transfers from SIACOR for the tourism development of the municipalities, finally, systematized the data together with a theoretical basis for the production of results. It is possible to conclude the participation of tourism in economic development in four municipalities located on the Polo Costa das Dunas Polo, it did not occur homogeneously. There is a dichotomy between municipalities that on the one hand present tourism as one of the main sources of revenue generation, such as Sao Miguel do Gostoso and Touros, and on the other side, observing the municipalities of Pedra Grande and Rio do Fogo, it was possible to perceive completely different realities.