Regional development through industrial tourism: a literature review

Abstract

This article contributes to a conceptual clarification and an understanding of how industrial tourism research has evolved. It is based on a literature review of scientific research produced over the past 25 years, focusing on its relation to regional development. The analysis was based on 51 scientific articles retrieved from the Scopus database. The growing interest in this theme, which is transversal to several research areas, is evident, adopting, in most cases, a qualitative methodology of case studies. As a promoter of regional development, industrial tourism has positive aspects, such as economic, social, and ecological benefits, among others, but also some constraints, such as excessive commercialization and loss of authenticity of the places. Thus, this work also contributes to identifying this product's impacts and development strategies in the territories.