Institutional identity work in the organizational field of Tourism

Abstract

The study aimed to understand how the institutional work carried out in the organizational field of tourism socially builds the tourist identity of a destination. For this, a qualitative case study was carried out in the city of Conde (PB) mapping the organizational actors and their respective roles in the city's tourist activity, and, through a qualitative content analysis, identifying elements that evidence its tourist identity, verifying actions relevant to the institutional work responsible for the social construction of this identity. It assumes an institutionalist approach applied to the field of Tourism, articulating the contributions of institutional work and the social construction of identities. Results showed that the municipality has a diverse identity framework in which heterogeneous actors, with distinct core activities, have carried out individual and non-collaborative actions, indicating a multi-identity construction process that has prevented it from becoming a competitive tourist attraction as well as a final tourist destination. Thus, it demonstrates (i) how identity represents a mechanism in the institutionalization process of the destination in an organizational field, (ii) the legitimacy of a local identity directly influences the strengthening of tourist activity, and that (iii) the way in which a given location is recognized for its central, distinctive and lasting attributes will define which public will be motivated to visit it.

Keywords
Institutional work; Tourist destination identity; Legitimacy; Organizational Institutionalism