Place marketing as support of local development: Marketing diagnosis of itajubá - MG [O marketing de lugares como instrumento de apoio ao desenvolvimento local: Diagnóstico de marketing de itajubá - MG]

Abstract

The article discusses how place marketing is a strategic resource for local development, focusing on the city of Itajubá-MG, that experiences accelerated growth especially in the higher education and industry sectors. The goal is to understand how strategic social actors of local development evaluate the local scene, and based on it delineate a marketing diagnosis to discuss how the place marketing can be used to sustain the continuity and quality of development, which requires the articulation of local consistent development strategies, as the attraction of investments needed to maintain it. The methodology consisted of an exploratory study, conducting semi-structured interviews with social actors. The roles and positions they hold are directly involved in the development of the municipality. It was concluded that social actors assess the education and training of skilled workers as the factor attracting investment, constituting a fundamental factor for the development of a place marketing strategy related to Itajubá, and urban infrastructure is assessed as a factor that needs to be enhanced.