Competitiveness study in tourist corridors: the Brazil-Paraguay-Argentine-Chile Bioceanic Route case

The present article deals with a study of competitiveness in the Bioceanic Route, which is made up of the Brazil, Paraguay, Argentine, and Chile countries. The general objective of this research concerns the competitiveness of tourist corridors with a focus on the countries mentioned above. As research methodology, the present investigation had a qualitative and descriptive nature. The study has a deductive approach based on bibliographical and exploratory research, in face of theoretical description and characterization, as well as documentary research, by the access to files and documents during the investigation; and moreover, for carrying out the field research stage, the criteria selected were the main destinations crossing the Bioceanic Route, for observation and data collection, and local authorities were interviewed. The itinerary considered was from Campo Grande (state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil), Paraguay, and Argentine to ports in Northern Chile. The criteria for analyzing the destinations were as follows: attractiveness, tourist information, transport, general infrastructure, quality of services, accessibility, hospitality, trade relations, destination management, conditional situations, and tourists’ perception. Results reveal nonconformity between the main cities in the corridor, such as Campo Grande, Salta, San Pedro de Atacama, and Iquique relative to all the elements analyzed, in relation to the other cities along the route.