GUARDIA, M. S. A. B.; http://lattes.cnpq.br/3201337110763548; GUARDIA, Mabel Simone de Araújo Bezerra.
Résumé:
The study is an analysis of the physical construction of mills as productive rural buildings for purposes of
tourist attraction, presents a diagnosis of the physical structure of cane sugar mills in the micro-region of
Brejo Paraibano taking into account existing attributes and modifications targeted at the tourist activity
and the reception of visitors, from the point of view of those characteristics of the constructions of the
mills that are considered attractive attributes for receiving visitors; it surveys the current conditions of
having the possession and use of the mills and, fínally, presents a proposal for exploring the buildings as
attractions. The study is descriptive and exploratory in nature, starting from a functionalist approach and
seeks to analyze the elements that are related to one another in order to identify the scope of their
interference. This is a qualitative-quantitative investigation, the focus of the research is the micro-region
of Brejo Paraibano where there are fifteen (15) mills distributed in six (6) municipalities, in which ali of
the properties are involved in the "Way of the Mills" project, which has been under the coordination of
SEBRAE; therefore, making a census among them possible. The field study was conducted through semistructured
interviews to obtain knowledge about the features of the buildings and their tourist-attracting
aspects. The analysis was done concerning the results in comparison to the initial propositions and the
theoretical framework elaborated. The method used was the descriptive statistical analysis and
exploratory data supported by Excel software. The data collected provided the scenario for the
infrastructure of the mills and the state of the constructions in the Brejo Paraibano micro-region as to its
conditions and exploitation of tourism. It was observed that in spite of the mills and properties in the
country, which date from early colonization, having had several interventions on them, including those
related to climatic conditions, there is still a need to modernize the neglected historical value of the
buildings; the absence of ostentation is highlighted in the most visited properties. The infrastructure is
lacking in many aspects, primarily due to poor and often nonexistent conditions such as access, sanitation,
water supply and signaling. Their relationship to tourism still proves to be without distinction, the
buildings have not been explored as attractions and have been given little value regarding this aspect, in
spite of their historical importance. The most used spaces for reception are the production áreas, where
most managers understand that this is the most interesting attraction. From a tourist point of view, such
spaces have some common features among them such as the type of coverage and materiais used as well
as the structure and masonry. The dissimilarities among the properties concern the area developed around
them, with the presence of landscaping and how they are involved in tourism.
