Receptividade de restaurantes e estabelecimentos do setor de alimentos e bebidas à turistas internacionais em Ouro Preto - MG

Ouro Preto, a historic city and World Cultural Heritage, attracts tourists from all over the world due to its churches, gold mines, historical context, parks and waterfalls. However, the city faces challenges in providing quality services to international visitors, such as the lack of translated menus and qualified staff to serve them. This picture raises questions about Ouro Preto's ability to effectively receive foreign tourists, with the gastronomic experience being fundamental in tourism, even in destinations where it is not the main focus; and, in Ouro Preto, the food and beverage sector plays a crucial role in tourist satisfaction, allowing people to experience the local culture through food. However, many establishments face challenges in communicating with foreign tourists due to the lack of training of attendants and/or translation of their services into other languages, especially English, thus affecting the quality of service. The English language plays a key role in global tourism, impacting competitiveness and service quality. The lack of personnel trained in other languages can cause embarrassment and dissatisfaction to foreign tourists. Through a quantitative and qualitative approach, including interviews, questionnaire and on-site observation, to collect data from 26 establishments in the historic center of Ouro Preto, in order to verify the reception capacity of international tourists in the city, it was possible to understand the current situation of receptivity of Ouro Preto restaurants and what measures should be adopted to improve the quality of service.