This text presents some reflections concerning the urban and
tourist expansion of the city of Florianópolis, trying to identify its
implications on the development of the hotel sector located in its
central area, departing from the pioneer initiatives until the present
days. The work departs from the understanding that space
organization results from historically determined social relations.
The study area includes part of the urban space of the island of
Santa Catarina, corresponding to its historic center, whose spatial
organization is going through an accelerated transformation
process, hosting 24 hotels. The accomplishment of the research
required the definition of theoretical references adequate to the
understanding of the expansion process of the city and of the
tourist flows, so that the totality of the natural elements and human
definers of the investigated reality could be perceived, considering
the analytic categories proposed by Milton Santos
