Institui es de Suporte, Servi os e Desempenho: um Estudo em Aglomera o Turística de Santa Catarina

The objective of this study was to evaluate clusters of tourism support institutions on the northern coast of the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina state. Based upon a discussion about clusters, competitive resources and support institutions role, research was undertaken in seven cities from the area called the Green Sea Coast. The chosen cities all have beach tourism as their primary economic activities. Touristic firms generally cluster close to tourist attractions, and thus create conditions for support institutions, especially in terms of economy of scale. We applied a survey, with both open and closed-ended question, to managers from the tourist agencies in order to gather primary data. Secondary data (related to tourism statistics) came from Santa Catarina’s official state tourism institution. The data was treated using descriptive inferential and categorization statistics. Results point out that there a variety of institutions in the region, but not in their services, since they all seem to concentrate on consulting.