PRODUCTION OF SPACE AND THE EVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS OF THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY OF CURITIBA: A STUDY IN ‘GUIAS QUATRO RODAS’ FROM 1966 TO 2014

Abstract

Location is considered one of the factors for the installation of companies linked to tourism, generating competitive influences such as aspects of accessibility, facilities, tourist promotion of the city, and other factors. The following question was proposed as a research problem: “Is there any relationship between contexts and historical events in Curitiba and the evolutionary dynamics of its hotel industry between 1966 and 2014?”. The main objective of this work, therefore, was to identify whether such relationships exist. A quantitative/analytical study was conducted, using keywords selected from articles, theses, books and online documents for the formulation of the theoretical sections of study. The study analyzed data on hotels in the city, obtained through Castro Ramos (2010) and updated through the Guia Quatro Rodas Brasil 2014, published by Abril. The aim of this analysis was to understand the evolutionary dynamics of the hotel industry in the city of Curitiba, focusing specifically on three historical events that have occurred in the city,and their possible influences on its hotels. In conclusion, it was found that the local hotels showed signs of influence from these historical events, resulting in the spatial distribution of hotels in Curitiba, the arrival of new hotel chains, generation of knowledge, and innovation, as a result of strategies adopted by stakeholders seeking better results in the contexts studied, and observing the phenomenon of Path Plasticity.