Considering Tourism as a social practice in its environmental/territorial relations, with an effective role in the renovation, divulgation and consolidation of urban attributes which reinforce the conditions of competitiveness between cities, this work seeks to analyze the presence of this practice in the construction and internationalization of the urban image of Curitiba, which is viewed nationally and internationally as a model city in relation to its urban planning and management. It adopts as a reference, studies on internationalization strategies and planning for the city, outlining the history of symbolic mechanisms created for the construction and diffusion of the city’s image. The analysis is based on quantitative and qualitative information on the development of Tourism in Curitiba, particularly during the period 1992 to 2005. As a result, it confirms the importance and effectiveness of the activity of national and international divulgation and insertion of the image constructed, as well as in the recomposition of the social thinking of the inhabitants of the city, and the region. Key words: Urban tourism, tourism and urban image, Curitiba-model.