A rota romântica: uma análise das inovações sociais decorrentes de um empreendimento turístico

Abstract

This study aimed to examine how different actors, which are members of a tourist route, established their strategies, develop their actions and interact to generate social innovation. As research strategy it was used the single case study of the Romantic Road, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, a region covering 13 counties of the state and whose joint actions aim at working the collective tourism of these places. Theories of territorial innovation, social construction and actor-network allowed a detailed analysis of the case. The result showed that the Romantic Road, which primary objective was not social, developed, throughout its history, initiatives and social innovation. Although literature only assumes that social innovation is considered the social enterprise whose aim is fundamentally social, it can be seen through this study that social innovation can exist even when the primary purpose is not the one mentioned above. The Romantic Road is a social innovation by providing better quality of life for people through economic and social development of municipalities.