Responding to the need to fill the research gap in the area of museum integrated marketing communication, the study investigated the planned, unplanned, product and service messages of selected museums in South Africa. These selected museums were the Ditsong and Iziko clusters of museums in the Gauteng Province and the Western Cape Province respectively. The clusters were selected because they are the biggest clusters of museums in the country. In an attempt to fill the research gap, the goal of the study was to develop and present an integrated marketing communication framework for the selected museums. In order to realise the goal of the study, four objectives were set. Consistent with the first objective chapter 2 analysed the South African cultural tourism sector. In this regard, the literature review revealed that South Africa’s cultural product offering is multifaceted with arts, cultural villages, literature, battlefields, museums, heritage sites nd religion comprising the main tourist attractions. Moreover, the literature review revealed that the two clusters of museums offer diversified product portfolios. The second objective was achieved in chapter 3 by analysing integrated marketing communication by means of a literature review. The literature review revealed that IMC is a logical structure of developing communication strategies. An organisation should control (planned) or influence messages (unplanned, product, service) messages to ensure message consistency and maximum communication impact. In simple terms, an organisation should strive to match its brand promise made through planned messages with actual performance as reflected in its product, service, and unplanned messages. The third objective was to analyse empirically the planned, unplanned, product and service messages of the Ditsong and Iziko clusters of museums. The results of the empirical phase of the study were presented in chapter 4. Following a mixed methods research approach, the first component of the empirical phase involved in- depth interviews with the marketing managers of the museum clusters while the second component involved a survey of visitors to the clusters. The qualitative data was analysed by establishing themes which had emerged from the interviews with the marketing managers. The quantitative data was analysed using the SPSS programme. In order to establish the relationships between the variables, a factor analysis was conducted. In addition, T-tests and ANOVAs were also conducted. The factor analysis produced three factors namely, factor 1: Above-the-line media, factor 2: Internal and external marketing and factor 3: Marketing public relations. The t-test and ANOVAs revealed that the respondents across age, province of residence, visitor retention and educational level rate service messages the most highly of all the IMC messages. On the whole, the empirical study revealed that both the participants and the respondents share the same views on what should be done in terms of the planned, unplanned, service and product messages of museums to ensure message consistency and maximum communication impact. The structural equation modelling indicated the interrelatedness of the various messages as well as their influence on one another. The fourth objective was to develop and present an integrated marketing communication framework for the Ditsong and Iziko museum clusters. This objective was realised in chapter five. The framework was informed by both the literature review and the empirical study. As regards the literature review the framework differs from some other works on IMC in that an attempt was made to align the framework to IMC message typology in its entirety. With regard to the empirical study, the IMC programme phase of the framework incorporates the recommendations of the respondents. It is hoped that the framework will empower the museums both to ensure message consistency and to maximise communication impact in spite of the divergent message needs of their multiple stakeholders. / Thesis (PhD (Tourism Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Mirades Turístiques a la ciutat és un estudi sobre el comportament del turisme en les ciutats monumentals, a partir de l'experiència viscuda pels visitants del Barri Vell de Girona. Una recerca que ha pretès determinar, precisament, la forma com els visitants entren en contacte amb el patrimoni monumental de la ciutat medieval. A partir, d'identificar quins factors influeixen (i quins no) en el comportament dels turistes durant la seva visita, tant pel que fa referència als factors ambientals generals (la meteorologia, la congestió, la informació...) com els factors singulars de cada visitant. Per tal d'assolir aquests objectius, en hem plantejat una sèrie d'hipòtesis de treball:1. Existeix una manera turística d'apropar-se al patrimoni que té les seves pròpies regles, les sevesestructures específiques i en conseqüència la necessitat d'uns instruments de gestió particulars.2. L'aproximació del turista al patrimoni monumental és el resultat de dues forces aparentmentcontradictòries. D'una banda, el turista tendeix a reproduir pautes de comportament socialment construïdes que prenen la forma d'un ritual. D'altra banda, més enllà d'aquest patró comú, cada visitant viu una experiència singular. Per tant, la relació amb el patrimoni és el resultat d'un subtil equilibri entre experiència i ritual.3. El consum turístic del patrimoni depèn de la relació entre quatre factors. El primer, la imatge del lloc, és la projecció (sovint idealitzada) de l'espai de visita, una metàfora de la ciutat. El segon, el codi d'interpretació turístic , actua com una mena de ritual, un guió no escrit de la pràctica turística. En tercer lloc, el substrat material que són els components artístics, històrics o culturals de la destinació: la geometria del casc, les visuals, el pes de la història o el valor estètic de les peces condicionen, com és obvi, la mirada turística. Finalment, l'experiència està condicionada per la gestió (pública i privada) del turisme: informació, fluxos, interpretació...L'estudi s'ha sustentat en una metodologia inèdita basada en l'observació directa a partir del seguiment dels visitants durant els seus recorreguts. Hem observat el visitants i hem recollit la informació bàsica de la seva visita: l'itinerari, els monuments visitats, les actituds manifestades, els temps d'estada... Aquesta metodologia ha estat ja implementada en alguns estudis de públic de diversos museus. S'han recollit tres tipus de dades: dades relacionades amb els arcs (segment de carrer entre dues interseccions), dades relacionades amb els nodes (els elements d'interès) i dades relacionades amb el visitant. Les tres fonts estan unides per un identificador comú, que és el codi del turista. Això ens ha permès vincular les dades dels visitants amb el seu recorregut i la seva visita als monuments de la ciutat. Els resultats de l'estudi ens han permès identificar els factors que singularitzen l'apropament dels visitants al patrimoni i que el diferencien d'altres formes de relació o ús. És a dir, els factors que incideixen en el comportament dels visitants de Girona. Així mateix, hem pogut definir models d'itineraris amb una estructura interna molt compacta però molt diferentsentre ells; que ens evidencien que, malgrat les regularitats detectades en les visites dels turistes de la ciutat, també existeixen elements diferencials en el seu comportament. Hem detectat quatre models de recorreguts urbans que hem anomenat: itinerari bàsic, comercial, complex i de les muralles, que a l'hora es poden subdividir en varies categories.Finalment, els estadístics multivariants ens han permès demostrar que la relació entre el turista i el patrimoni respon almenys a quatre formes de consum diferenciades, que hem anomenat "no turistes", "rituals", "interessats" i "erudits". / Mirades Turístiques a la ciutat is a study of the behaviour of tourism in towns having important monuments, based on the real-life experience of visitors to the historic centre of Girona. This is a piece of research which has tried to find out the exact way in which visitors come into contact with the heritage sites of the medieval town. This has been done through identifying which factors have an influence (and which do not) on the behaviour of the tourist during their visit, both dose of a general nature (weather, crowding, information...) and those factors which are particular to each visitor. In order to achieve this aims, I put forward a number of working hypotheses:1. There is a particular tourist approach to site which has its own rules, specific structures and as aconsequence the need for specific management tools.2. The way the tourist approaches the site is the result of two seemingly contradiction forces. On the one hand, the tourist tends to repeat socially contructed behaviours which take the form of a ritual. On the other hand, and beyond this common pattern, each visitor has a singular experience. Therefore, the relationship with the site is the result of a subtle balance between experience and ritual.3. The touristic use of a heritage site depends on the relationship between four factors. The first, the image of the place, a metaphor of the town. The second, the code of touristic interpretation, acts as a kind of ritual, a non-written script for being a tourist. The third, the material substratum which are the artistic, historical or cultural components; the geometry of the area, the visual parts, the weight of history or the aesthetic value of the items, obviously, condition the way tourist look at the town. Finally, the experience is conditioned by the management of tourism: the information, the flow of tourists, interpretation.This study uses an original methodology based on direct observation of following visitors during their visit. We observed the visitors and we collected basic information about their visit: the itinerary, the monuments visited, the attitudes shown, the time spent. This methodology has already been used in order studies of the public in different museums. Three kinds of data was collected: data relating to blocks (the segments of a street between two roads), data relating to nodes (the items of interest) and data relating to the visitors. The three sources are connected by a common identifier, that of the touristic code. This has allowed us to connect the data of the visitors with the route taken and the visit of the monuments in the town.The results of the study have allowed us to identify the factors with make the approach of the visitor to the monument a singular one and which differenciate it from the other forms of relationship or of use. That is to say, that the factors which have an effect on the behaviour of the visitors to Girona.Thus, we have been able to define models of itineraries with a very compact internal structure but which are very different between each one, which shows that, despite the regularities which were found in the visits of tourists to the town, differenciated elements in their behaviour were also observed. We detected four models of urban routes: the basic, the commercial, the complex and the town walls, which can each be subdivides into several categories. Finally, the multivariant statistics have allowed us to demonstrate that the relationship between tourist and heritage site responds to at least four forms of differentiated use which we have named "non-touristic", "ritual","interedted" and "erudite".

Le principal objectif de l’étude consiste à démontrer, en temps de crise économique mondiale, comme il serait possible de conjuguer exigences de croissance économique et stratégies de protection et de valorisation du patrimoine, dans une perspective durable, en considérant que le tourisme représente un dès possible secteur pour le développement territorial, l’intégration sociale et l’amélioration des conditions de vie des collectivités locales. La région Campanie et la province de Caserte – territoires objets d’étude en Italie - sont dotés d’un exceptionnel patrimoine culturel, paysager et immatériel mais ne sont pas suffisamment protégés et valorisés. À cette fin, la recherche analyse et propose des stratégies de gestion des biens à travers l’étude des best practices françaises dans le domaine du tourisme culturel, considérées comme le moteur de développement durable du territoire. La France, classée premier pays au monde pour le nombre de visiteur international, selon les statistiques de l’Organisation mondiale du tourisme, a développé une politique gouvernementale de long terme visant à la protection et à la promotion du patrimoine, grâce à des interventions sur les biens, sur la structure organisationnelle des institutions responsables, et sur toutes les formes d'art de la production intellectuelle. En Italie, en revanche, la stratégie de gestion s’est souvent montrée inadéquat par rapport au prestige international dont elle dispose sur le plan de son patrimoine culturel, paysager, gastronomique et immatériel. Un management contestable des biens, a donné lieu à une croissance limitée de l'économie par rapport à son potentiel avec un effet négatif sur le patrimoine. / The main objective of this study is to demonstrate, in times of global economic crisis, how it is possible to combine economic growth needs and strategies for the protection and enhancement of the heritage in a sustainable way, starting from the assumption that tourism is one of possible areas for regional development, social integration and improvement of living conditions of local communities. The Campania Region and the Province of Caserta – territories object of study in Italy - have a unique cultural, landscape and intangible heritage but is not sufficiently protected and enhanced. To this end, the research analyzes and proposes policies for managing assets through the study of international "best practices", in particular in France, in the field of cultural tourism, seen as an engine for sustainable development of local communities. France, the first country in the world for number of international visitors, according to updated data, provided by the World Tourism Organizations, has developed a long-term government policy aimed at the protection and enhancement of heritage, through actions on assets, on the organizational structure of the institution in charge, and targeted promotion of all art forms of intellectual production. In Italy, however, the management strategy has often shown inadequate compared to the international prestige of the country for its cultural, landscape, food, wine and intangible heritage, with a limited growth of economy if compared with this heritage’s potential with the consequent negative effect on heritage.

The objective of this thesis was to analyze a tourism supply and demand in České Budějovice. This work focuses closely to museums in the city. On the base of made situational analysis, the output of the questionnaires and SWOT analysis products were drawn that expand the supply in chosen area of cultural tourism. Simultaneously the possibilities of communication and cooperation of chosen cultural facilities and the tourism sector were suggested.

Le discours produit lors d’une visite touristique naît de différentes modalités de communication dont la visite assistée par un dispositif socio-technique et la visite-conférence dirigée par un médiateur. Ces deux modalités présentant des caractéristiques communes propres au genre discursif de la visite médiée, offrent aussi des différences significatives pour constituer un corpus d’étude subdivisé par les modalités de production et les langues sources : des textes écrits par des professionnels du domaine et des textes enregistrées en présence de visiteurs, en français et en espagnol. Plusieurs interrogations se posent dont celle d’une taxonomie des genres de discours liés au domaine spécialisé étudié, celle d’une unité de segmentation textuelle s’affranchissant du caractère scriptural ou oral du mode de production du texte, et celles liées à la catégorisation d’un texte dans un genre discursif. En effet, les valeurs des paramètres de caractérisation doivent permettre l’introduction d’un prototype indispensable à la catégorisation et à l’indexation textuelle du genre étudié.Cette recherche s’inscrit donc dans le cadre théorique de la linguistique textuelle et de l’analyse des pratiques discursives comme indices des praxis sociales, mais la méthodologie employée élargit cette base théorique à la linguistique contributionnelle post-gricéenne qui légitime l’introduction de la contribution comme unité de segmentation textuelle. En outre, le traitement quantitatif d’une compilation de textes sélectionnés trouve ses fondements au sein même de l’analyse de discours et de la linguistique de corpus. La méthode suivie, qui introduit les règles de segmentation textuelle dont l’annotation manuelle qualitative, et l’analyse quantitative permettent de proposer un modèle d’organisation de chaque genre considéré. Au-delà du grand intérêt que présente la caractérisation de nouveaux discours spécialisés, ce travail introduit d’un côté une méthode d’analyse à l’origine du développement d’un programme de segmentation, d’annotation et d’indexation ; et une valorisation didactique dans l’enseignement des langues sur objectifs spécifiques ; et d’un autre côté le développement d’interfaces proposant de nouvelles modalités de médiation dont le discours est pensé en amont de leur réalisation. / The discourse produced in a guided tour stems from different communicative modalities which include the visit assisted by a socio-technical device and the visit guided by an education and visitor service officer. These two modalities show common characteristics of a guided tour; they also offer significant differences. These differences allow us to compile a corpus divided according to its modalities of production and the languages: written text by professionals of the tourism sector, in French and in Spanish. Several issues arise such as the genre taxonomy of the discourse linked to the specific field studied, the unit of the text segmentation which has to free itself from the scriptural or oral feature of the text production, the textual categorisation and indexation of the studied genre. Indeed, the characterisation parameter value must introduce an essential prototype in order to categorise and index the texts of the studied genres. Therefore, as a sign of social praxis, this research suits the text linguistic and discourse analysis theoretical framework. In addition, the selected methodology enlarges this theoretical background to the post-Gricean linguistics of contribution which allows to define the contribution as the unit of textual segmentation. Furthermore, the quantitative analysis of a selected text compilation is rooted in the discourse analysis and corpus linguistic approaches. The method followed here, which introduces textual segmentation rules such as qualitative manual annotation and quantitative analysis suggests structural patterns of each considered genre. Beyond the notable interest of categorising new specialized discourses, this investigation introduces a new analytical method. On the one hand, the methodological framework is the source of a segmentation, annotation, and indexation software development. On the other hand, it is the source of an application development recommending new modalities of guided tours where the priority is given to the elaboration of the discourse.

This research is focused on cultural tourism in the scope of book collections as a way to provide an opportunity for the visiting public to know the bibliographic heritage of librarian institutions, resulting in the preservation of the memory of rare books. The study has as the root locus the Public Bibliotheca Pelotense and the objective: to explore the interest of visitors present at the "Heritage Day" to meet its rare collection, analyze the possible impacts caused by the development of tourism under the rare books collection and analyze the tourism, cultural and literary potential of this collection. The work is in a qualitative and quantitative research, in which questionnaires were used with visitors from the bibliotheca pelotense, chosen randomly, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with an active historian in the library and librarians of the National Library of Brazil responsible for coordinating the Special Collection and Rare Books Division. The research revealed that the collection of rare books of the Public Bibliotheca Pelotense awakens the interest of visitors to meet it, as well as having daily diaries of trips that address sights of the city and thus a relevant bibliographic heritage, which encourage literary tourism and at the same time become touristic products. Another result of the study indicates that cultural tourism in exposed rare collections is a way to preserve the memory and disclosure of assets, stimulating in the potential audience the sense of belonging and desire to search the library. From this, it appears that cultural tourism in the collection of rare books of the Public Bibliotheca Pelotense has potential and despite some difficulties, the institution seeks to preserve its collection and plans in the future, a new space for rare works. As a product of this dissertation, was created one lego box and a video to promote the cultural and literary tourism in the institution from its bibliographical heritage. / Esta pesquisa tem como foco de investigação o turismo cultural no âmbito do acervo de obras como uma forma de oportunizar o público visitante de instituições bibliotecárias em conhecer seu patrimônio bibliográfico, o que acarreta na preservação da memória do acervo. O estudo tem como lócus de análise a Bibliotheca Pública Pelotense e objetiva: averiguar o interesse dos visitantes presentes no evento “Dia do Patrimônio” em conhecer seu acervo raro, analisar os possíveis impactos ocasionados pelo desenvolvimento do turismo no âmbito do acervo de obras raras e analisar o potencial turístico, cultural e literário desse acervo. O trabalho constitui-se em uma pesquisa qualitativa e quantitativa, em que foram utilizados questionários com visitantes da biblioteca pelotense, escolhidos de forma aleatória, e entrevistas com um roteiro semi-estruturado realizadas com um historiador atuante na biblioteca e com bibliotecárias da Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil responsáveis pela coordenação de Acervo Especial e Divisão de Obras Raras. A pesquisa revelou que o acervo de livros raros da Bibliotheca Pública Pelotense desperta o interesse dos visitantes em conhecê-los, além de possuir diários de viagens que abordam pontos turísticos da cidade e com isso constituem um relevante patrimônio bibliográfico, que incentiva o turismo literário e ao mesmo tempo tornam-se produtos turísticos. Outro resultado do estudo indica que o turismo cultural em acervos raros expostos é um caminho para a preservação da memória e divulgação do acervo, estimulando no público em potencial o sentido de pertencimento e a querer pesquisar na biblioteca. A partir disso, depreende-se que o turismo cultural no âmbito do acervo de livros raros da Bibliotheca Pública Pelotense tem potencial e apesar de algumas dificuldades, a instituição busca preservar seu acervo e planeja futuramente, um novo espaço para as obras raras. Como produto dessa dissertação, criou-se uma caixa lego e um vídeo para promover o turismo cultural e literário na instituição a partir de seu patrimônio bibliográfico.

Pesquisa exploratória sobre a Interpretação do Patrimônio Cultural de São Miguel das Missões (Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil) no âmbito do Turismo Cultural. Baseou-se em levantamento bibliográfico e documental, visitas in loco , observação e registro dos dados do sítio, e entrevistas com representantes do IPHAN e da Secretaria Municipal de Turismo. Na parte teórica trata de aspectos conceituais de Patrimônio Cultural e da relação entre Turismo e Interpretação desse patrimônio. Na pesquisa de campo, descreve e analisa a ocorrência da interpretação do patrimônio cultural no sítio, com base no modelo de plano de interpretação de Stela Maris Murta e Brian Goodey. Conclui que: não há um plano e as ações interpretativas foram implantadas de forma isolada; há necessidade premente de um adequado planejamento interpretativo cultural e ambiental que vise a preservação do patrimônio, o desenvolvimento do turismo cultural e a sustentabilidade local e regional. Para tanto, apresenta propostas norteadoras a título de contribuição. / Submitted by Marcelo Teixeira (mvteixeira@ucs.br) on 2014-05-15T15:59:01Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Ana Solange Biesek.pdf: 4735556 bytes, checksum: a41f296824b7dc46a658829084c027ab (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-15T15:59:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Ana Solange Biesek.pdf: 4735556 bytes, checksum: a41f296824b7dc46a658829084c027ab (MD5) / Exploratory research on the interpretation of the cultural heritage of São Miguel das Missões (Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil)on the field of cultural tourism. Basead on bibliographical an documental research, in loco visits, observation, data registration of the spot and interviews, with representatives from IPHAN and from the Secretaria Municipal de Turismo. The work, in the theoretical part, deals with conceptual aspects of the cultural heritage and with the relationship between tourism and the interpretation of this heritage. On the field research, the work describes and analyses the ocurrency of the interpretation of the cultural heritage on the spot, based on the interpretative model of Stela Maris Murta and Brian Goodey. It concludes that there is not a plan and the interpretative actions were done in an isolated way. There is a real necessity of a specific cultural and environmental interpretative planning towards the preservation of the heritage, the development of the cultural tourism and the local and regional sustentability. Hence, the work proposes, as a contribution, course of actions.

A presente pesquisa, caracterizada como um estudo exploratório, de corte qualitativo, tem por objetivo realizar um estudo sobre a teoria e a prática da Educação Patrimonial, no intuito de buscar associações entre este processo e o fenômeno turístico. Para tanto, faz-se um resgate teórico das concepções de Educação como processo de formação do sujeito histórico e de aspectos inerentes ao Turismo Cultural, enquanto uma prática social apoiada nos bens patrimoniais da localidade. O confronto entre a teoria e a prática da Educação Patrimonial se dá através do estudo de caso do Programa de Educação Patrimonial do Museu Municipal de Caxias do Sul, especificamente, do Projeto Aula no Museu. Tendo como base os pressupostos da pesquisa etnográfica, participante, acompanha-se a Aula no Museu, registrando seu desenvolvimento; entrevista-se profissionais envolvidos no planejamento e execução do projeto e aplicam-se questionários a estudantes com participação na Aula no Museu e a outros em vias de fazê-lo, a fim de apreender se a experiência no Museu altera significativamente a percepção dos seus participantes quanto ao patrimônio cultural representado pelo acervo do Museu. Como resultados, têm-se a observação dos aportes teórico-metodológicos da Educação Patrimonial na experiência do Museu Municipal de Caxias do Sul, a constatação de que a temática da imigração italiana é vivenciada na rede de ensino formal de modo que a Aula no Museu apenas complementaria os conhecimentos adquiridos na escola, assim como se verifica, ainda, que a proposta do referido Programa de Educação Patrimonial utiliza como recurso didático, sobretudo, o legado cultural do imigrante italiano, o que contribui no fortalecimento do imaginário de italianidade apropriado pelo turismo em Caxias do Sul. / Submitted by Marcelo Teixeira (mvteixeira@ucs.br) on 2014-05-15T16:23:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Fabiana Sales.pdf: 6866061 bytes, checksum: 7a1dc646472296dfab0faba77f26961c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-15T16:23:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Fabiana Sales.pdf: 6866061 bytes, checksum: 7a1dc646472296dfab0faba77f26961c (MD5) / This research, characterized as an exploratory and qualitative study, aims to reach an study about the theory and the practice of heritage education in order to get associations between this process and the touristic phenomenon. In this sense, it rescues the theoretical conceptions of education as a process that constitutes the citizen, as well as the inherent aspects of the cultural tourism while a social practice supported by community's cultural heritage. The comparison between the theory and the practice of heritage education occurs throught the case study of the Heritage Education Program of the Museu Municipal de Caxias do Sul, specifically the Aula no Museu Project. Based on the etnographic, participative research methods, the Aula no Museu is closely followed and its development registered; professionals involved on the planning and execution of the project are interviewed and questionnaires are applied to students who have been throught Aula no Museu and others who haven't, in order to catch whether the experience at the Museum modifies significantly the perception of its participants about the cultural heritage represented by museum's collection. As results, it is observed the presence of the theory and metodology of heritage education at the experience of Caxias do Sul Municipal Museum, it is noticed that the subject of the italian immigration is experienced in formal education, so that the Aula no Museu would only suplement the knowledge achieved in school, as well as it is noticed that the proposal of the mentioned heritage education program uses as didactic resource only the cultural heritage of the italian immigrants, which contributes to fortify the italinity imagery used by tourism in Caxias do Sul.

The master thesis analyzes the structure of multi-genre music festivals´ visitors and on the base of this analysis, a part of marketing mix of concrete festival is proposed to be modified. This modification is primarily focused on communication mix. Music festivals are the product of tourism. This is one of the essential ideas of this master thesis. Festival is a service - nonmaterial product, so there must be reached the maximal efectivaty of the communication with the music festival customer - visitor. The secondary goal of the master thesis is proposal of the realizatoion of multi-genre music festival in České Budějovice. This goal is almost achieved, when local authority has expressed the agreement with this project.

Pesquisa exploratória sobre a Interpretação do Patrimônio Cultural de São Miguel das Missões (Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil) no âmbito do Turismo Cultural. Baseou-se em levantamento bibliográfico e documental, visitas in loco , observação e registro dos dados do sítio, e entrevistas com representantes do IPHAN e da Secretaria Municipal de Turismo. Na parte teórica trata de aspectos conceituais de Patrimônio Cultural e da relação entre Turismo e Interpretação desse patrimônio. Na pesquisa de campo, descreve e analisa a ocorrência da interpretação do patrimônio cultural no sítio, com base no modelo de plano de interpretação de Stela Maris Murta e Brian Goodey. Conclui que: não há um plano e as ações interpretativas foram implantadas de forma isolada; há necessidade premente de um adequado planejamento interpretativo cultural e ambiental que vise a preservação do patrimônio, o desenvolvimento do turismo cultural e a sustentabilidade local e regional. Para tanto, apresenta propostas norteadoras a título de contribuição. / Exploratory research on the interpretation of the cultural heritage of São Miguel das Missões (Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil)on the field of cultural tourism. Basead on bibliographical an documental research, in loco visits, observation, data registration of the spot and interviews, with representatives from IPHAN and from the Secretaria Municipal de Turismo. The work, in the theoretical part, deals with conceptual aspects of the cultural heritage and with the relationship between tourism and the interpretation of this heritage. On the field research, the work describes and analyses the ocurrency of the interpretation of the cultural heritage on the spot, based on the interpretative model of Stela Maris Murta and Brian Goodey. It concludes that there is not a plan and the interpretative actions were done in an isolated way. There is a real necessity of a specific cultural and environmental interpretative planning towards the preservation of the heritage, the development of the cultural tourism and the local and regional sustentability. Hence, the work proposes, as a contribution, course of actions.