Turismo de eventos de negócios em Caxias do Sul : condições e possibilidades

Abstract

This work has as main objective to know the challenges and possibilities related to tourism of business events in Caxias do Sul / RS under the point of view of several actors of this scenario, such as event organizers, representatives of the public sector and private initiative. The study seeks to contribute to the discussion about the possibilities of a new economic matrix for the municipality, in which business tourism and events can be inserted. In order to reach this objective, a qualitative and exploratory study was chosen. The formation of the corpus was based on the technique of semi-structured individual interviews. The following criteria were used for the selection of interviewees: nine people who work or have already served in leadership and management roles in public and private entities and enterprises in Caxias do Sul that have a bearing on the subject, such as: Tourism, Trade Union of Hotels, Restaurants, Bars and Similar of Caxias do Sul, Chamber of Industry, Commerce and Services of Caxias do Sul, University of Caxias do Sul, Municipal Tourism Council and organizers of small and large business events. The corpus was analyzed by Bardin's Content Analysis method (2000), which determines three phases for the treatment of the information collected and the schematization of this information into categories. Six categories emerged from this analysis: spaces for events, entrepreneurship culture; infrastructure conditions; responsibility between private and public and new tourism. The reports indicate that Caxias do Sul has difficulties related to spaces suitable for holding events. There are also limitations on aspects of city infrastructure, such as in the case of the airport and the highways. The culture of the business can interfere in a negative way in the activity due to the ignorance of the entrepreneur of the importance in investing in events and, consequently, in the tourism. It is agreed by most of the interviewees that the public power does not signal that it will invest in tourism as a whole nor intend to take the lead in the face of existing needs, so that it is necessary to unite all actors in this scenario. Finally, several possibilities for change in this sector were suggested, from the exploration of natural aspects of the city to the frequent realization of segmented events, through the construction of a new event center and a new airport. They were pointed from small actions to large enterprises as suggestions to develop business tourism and events in Caxias do Sul.