The Sustainability of Industrial Heritage Tourism Far from the Axes of Economic Development in Europe: Two Case Studies

Abstract

The transformation of mining and industrial spaces into tourist spaces is part of the debate surrounding the profound changes in the contemporary economies of developed European countries. The loss of competitive power of their traditional companies, the obsolescence of many manufacturing facilities, and the take-off of other industrial economies in remote parts of the world have led to the closure of thousands of mines and factories, with the approval of environmental groups. In some privileged places, these ex-industrialized spaces have recovered environmentally, been allocated aid for socio-economic reconversion, and reoriented the old mines and factories (now converted into industrial heritage), towards cultural and tourist uses. The successful examples of Ironbridge, Zollverein or Wieliczka, have created the illusion to managers, owners, and local population of being able to turn almost any ruin of the industrial and mining past into a tourist attraction. Starting in the 1990s, many ex-industrial spaces, which were far from the main urban centres, opted for this tourist transformation as a lifeline to slow down the loss of population and economic activities. Sometime after these projects of industrial tourism, the result can be evaluated with objective data that question the sustainability of the model and the resilience of these places. This paper focuses on questioning the sustainability and resilience of the tourist transformation of two former mining areas located in Spain (Almadén and Sabero), far from the axes of economic development.

Industrial Heritage Tourism as a Driver of Sustainable Development? A Case Study of Steirische Eisenstrasse (Austria)

“…Overall, the utilization of industry-related cultural heritage tourism in this case study for more sustainable regional development shows rather sobering results, raising immediate questions about other similar regions. With some research on peripheral regions pointing to similar results [43,84,85], it can be concluded that industrial heritage tourism is not the solution for many problems facing (old) industrial regions. On the contrary, it is a rather difficult starting point.…”

“…In the case of industrial heritage tourism and (to a lesser degree) industrial tourism, these impacts and results have not been clearly explored. Thus, a better assessment of the potentials and limits of industrial heritage tourism, especially in more peripheral regions, is needed (see [43] for an example). This is even more important in the case of cultural heritage items based on an industrial past and present, which are widely used with the overall aim of not only economic gain (i.e., tourism) but also often for other expected (social) benefits.…”

“…Obviously, it is generally harder to operationalize immaterial factors for place-based development. Only a few projects outside the tourist sector have attempted to exploit such potentials [42], whereas there are many instances of old industrial sites being converted to new purposes [43,44]. Overall, it is important to note that whether and how these potentials are valorized and turned into place-based development strategies largely depends on the preferences, perceptions, and capacities of local and regional actors as well as on the frameworks of European and national policies [34].…”

Post-Industrial Tourism as a Driver of Sustainable Development

“…Kyrylov et al [19] analysed current trends and identified prospects for international tourism development in the context of increasing globalisation risks in the world. Using the German experience, the author of [24] demonstrated the positive effect of implementing project Industrial Heritage Trail on the economic development of the post-industrial region.…”

Research on the Protection and Reuse of Industrial Heritage from the Perspective of Public Participation—A Case Study of Northern Mining Area of Pingdingshan, China

“…According to the Spanish National Industrial Heritage Program, the definition of industrial heritage is the collection and management of movable and immovable assets produced through mining, transformation, transportation, distribution and other activities, as well as social systems related to working-class culture, and management. This is the industrial revolution-the result of the established economic system [5].…”