Extracting web data from TripAdvisor as a support for tourism indicators development in Minas Gerais

The research aims to study the phenomenon called " Big Data ", and the possibility of using free web data extraction tools (web scrapers) to help the development of indicators about tourist attractions in Minas Gerais State (Brazil) registered in the world's most famous travel-related website known as " TripAdvisor ". After the literature review about the theme Big Data, we used a web scraper tool to collect data from TripAdvisor, searching for key information of Minas Gerais' tourist attractions and turning them into a structured database. Thus, it was possible to extract information such as the division of tourist attractions by categories from the state and municipalities, the number of evaluations, visitors' profiles, satisfaction levels, and the period of most visits at each of the attractions. After that, a brief study was made using the web scraper methodology about the case of Pampulha Modern Ensemble. The attraction was chosen by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site during the research, and it was possible to check the impact of its nomination on TripAdvisor's users' opinions. We expect this methodology to assist the state authorities and municipalities in extracting strategic information that is already available on the web at low cost, improving actions and ensuring an improvement in the use of public resources in tourism policies.