Abstract:

Social networks have become an important tool for image formation and positioning of tourist destinations. The aim of this study is to understand the use of social networks for the positioning of a city using these means in the important segment of day visitors, i.e., those tourists who do not spend the night in the place visited. This is an exploratory and qualitative study, for which the municipality of Guararema, in São Paulo, Brazil, was chosen. Data triangulation was based on a) content analysis of 11 social network accounts, b) specialized journals, c) in-depth interviews with visitors; and d) content of the city's website and tourism master plan. As a result, it turned out that in this destination there is a clear positioning for day visitors interested in natural landscapes and cuisine. Placement is consistent with images that are viewed on networks. Social networks and the press together tend to generate visits, generating a cycle. As a suggestion for future studies, we propose to understand this phenomenon in the low or high season and expand studies on day-visitors, still little studied in the literature.

Keyword:
social networks; city positioning; day visitors