New Approach on the Quantitative Assessment of Geotouristic Potential: A Case Study in the Northern Area of the Rio De Janeiro Cliffs and Lagoons Geopark Project

As a trend in sustainable tourism, geotourism is being increasingly practiced, especially in territories that include geopark areas. The municipalities included in the territory of the Projeto Geoparque Costões e Lagunas do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro Cliffs and Lagoons Geopark Project) have a geological, historical, cultural, and ecological diversity favoring the development of geotourism. The aim of this study is to carry out an inventory and quantitative assessment of the places with potential for the development of geotourism in the municipalities in the northern part of the territory of this project, namely Quissamã, Campos dos Goytacazes, São João da Barra, and São Francisco de Itabapoana. For the inventory, places listed in the literature or recognized by professionals from different areas of knowledge were used as a premise, together with observations and insights from fieldwork. The quantitative evaluation was carried out considering two methodologies. In the first, the potential tourist use was calculated through the GEOSSIT application for natural attractions. The second was determined through a new approach, combining the methodologies of Brazil (2007) and (Brilha Geoheritage, 8:119-134, 2016), to calculate the attractiveness potential of both natural and manmade attractions. Thus, of the 24 places evaluated in this study, 23 were classified as having high potential to attract visitors. The assessments carried out using these two methods are complementary and provide a broad view of the potential of each location to become a geotourist attraction.