Tourism Public Organizations play the state role in fostering tourism in the tourist destination. Fostering means formulating public policies, for example, the management of tourism destinations through tourism portals (websites) of public administration. The aim of this paper is to present a reference model for assessment of tourism portals to support knowledge management. The research method used was the triangular approach, which was developed from the construction of a reference model (theoretical) and the design of instruments for collecting quantitative and qualitative data. Twenty-nine tourist portals managed by Brazilian Public Tourism Organizations were analyzed. It was found that the tourism portals analyzed were not architected to support knowledge management and that they are underused as a strategic tool for tourism destination management. As for the model proposed, it proved valid and the results obtained led Tourism Public Organizations in all instances of governance and private organizations to feel the need to review their tourist destinations management strategies concerning the promotion and marketing of tourism services and products.
Tourism; Knowledge management; Public administration; Strategy; Tourism portals
