Vem pro mercado: hospitalidade urbana, lazer e turismo no Mercado Central de Belo Horizonte

Abstract

This essay is about the study of the relationship between urban hospitality, leisure, and tourism in the context of the Mercado Central in Belo Horizonte City. To do so, the guiding question was set up as follows: How does Urban Hospitality influence social and human exchanges between visitors and hosts resulting from leisure and tourism experienced at the Mercado Central of Belo Horizonte? The goal was to understand how Urban Hospitality influences social/human exchanges between visitors and hosts in the context of leisure and tourism experienced in the locus. The research considered the theoretical approach between the areas, understanding it as social phenomena, with leisure being seen as a dimension of culture (GOMES, 2014) faced during spare time and generating new values that contests the status quo (MARCELLINO, 2005); tourism as a social practice based on culture (MOESCH, 2002) and as an activity made for and by people, promoting cultural exchange and trades in between (OLIVEIRA, 2019), and urban hospitality as a social quality (GRINOVER, 2006) and a way of living together (FERRAZ, 2013). A qualitative method was chosen to encompass the singularities and subjectivities of the relationships studied. A qualitative method was adopted to encompass the singularities and subjectivities of the relationships studied. A methodological approach included documentary research using the newspaper "O Cometa Centenário" to conduct a historical survey and analysis of the Mercado Central as a space for consumption, leisure, and tourism. The field research was carried out through participatory observation, which allowed to dive into the daily life of the locus. Secondly, 19 semi- structured interviews were conducted with visitors, traders, and management to cross-check the information with the analysis from participatory observation. For data analysis of the collected content, a content analysis technique was adopted using the NVivo qualitative statistics program and the word frequency tool. Categories were created to guide the research, as well as analyze, namely: Understandings of Leisure, Tourism, and Hospitality; Urban Hospitality and its attributes; and Social Exchanges. As a result, it was noticed that the market performs new social functions, solidifying itself as a place for leisure and tourism experiences, becoming an important attraction in the city. It is considered hospitable by visitors and stands out as a key factor for the discussion of urban hospitality. The threshold in the relationship between merchants and local visitors is defined as issues within their receptivity rituals. Under the perspective of the attributes of urban hospitality, it became clear that the market still has a long way to go to become effectively hospitable: in terms of accessibility, despite the constant physical adjustments in the space, it is still a limiting factor for certain disabilities. In terms of legibility, the indicative signs are not very efficient. Inversely, the Identity category highlights the Market as a prominent place of representation and plurality for the public.