Search Results (8)

Industrial heritage tourism has been subject to increasing visitor interest, making Europe’s old factories, mines, and steelworks into attractive tourist installations. However, these facilities, like all other market players, impact the environment, and, therefore, their management should take into account achieving sustainable development goals. The purpose of this article is to identify key sustainability measures taken by public industrial heritage tourism facilities in Europe to protect the environment. This article discusses the results of a survey of administrators of public industrial heritage facilities in Europe. This research was carried out using the Computer Assisted Web Interview technique, sending a research questionnaire to facilities associated with the European Route of Industrial Heritage. The results indicate that these entities are taking numerous measures to implement environmental sustainability patterns, particularly in the areas of waste segregation, pollution and waste generation reduction, and low energy consumption in equipment purchases. Unfortunately, the survey shows that many of the stated actions are not being implemented, as only one in four managers has implemented a formal program related to the implementation of at least some sustainability principles or training conducted in this regard. Managers of industrial heritage sites also advocate for increased national and international cooperation between sites. The author also draws attention to the need to acquire green technologies and communicate the effects of these activities to stakeholders. Full article

In the context of cultural routes, in order to achieve overall protection of industrial heritage, the European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) was established to organize and promote the entire European industrial heritage. The conservation and utilization of Chinese industrial heritage are currently dominated by individual cases, which limits their potential to contribute to regional sustainable development. There is an urgent need of a conservation system at the regional or national level, to ensure that Chinese industrial heritage conservation effectively contributes to regional sustainable development. This study considers the industrial heritage of China built between 1840 and 1978 to establish the Chinese Industrial Heritage GIS Database (CIHGD). The analysis shows that the distribution of China’s industrial heritage is mainly concentrated in the eastern and southern coastal areas, and the industrial heritage has formed three key regions, 14 key cities, and important railway and water systems located in eastern China. The CRIH facilitates the holistic conservation of China’s industrial heritage and provides basic data for future research on China’s industrial heritage. The objective of this study is to promote the establishment of an information-based management system for industrial heritage in China, and to explore the value evaluation, protection system, and regional tourism of industrial heritage from a national perspective in China. Full article

Industrial heritage serves as a poignant testament to the historical narrative of industrial civilization. The European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) is a pan-European network that connects industrial sites and museums to enhance public awareness of the significance of the industrial heritage sector and to promote sustainable development practices in urban areas through collaboration and cooperation between these sites. The ERIH is crucial in promoting economic, cultural, and social values associated with industrial heritage and creating opportunities for tourism and education in Europe. Taking the ERIH as the research object, the nearest-neighbor index, kernel density, geographic detector, and other methods are used in this study to explore the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of European industrial heritage. The results of this study have implications for urban and regional planning endeavors aimed at advancing sustainable urban development. Furthermore, they contribute to cultivating a sense of place and identity by identifying and preserving industrial heritage institutions while fostering social cohesion and community identity practices. The results show that (1) the spatial distribution of European industrial heritage presents a cohesive distribution, and the spatial distribution is uneven; (2) the spatial distribution of European industrial heritage forms “dual cores, dual centers, one belt, three zones and multiple scattered points”—the center of gravity shows a trend of “first north and then east” and the north–south movement is relatively small; and (3) a combination of natural and social factors shape the spatial distribution of industrial heritage. Natural conditions, such as altitude, topography, and hydrological characteristics, influence the distribution patterns of industrial heritage sites. Meanwhile, human factors, including infrastructure level, cultural tourism potential, and social development, play a pivotal role in determining spatial distribution patterns. Among these factors, the socio-economic level exhibits the strongest influence, with an explanatory power of 0.763. The results of this study can contribute to the conservation and tourism practices regarding industrial heritage sites, thus promoting sustainable urban development practices. Full article

This article discusses the structures of value propositions in cultural heritage tourism site business models in the context of the concept of open innovation. The objective of the study is to identify value propositions in tourism sites and the tendency of managers to use open innovation. The analysis was based on the example of European cultural heritage tourism sites associated with the European Route of Industrial Heritage. The research process included literature analysis and empirical research in the form of interviews conducted with managers of 73 sites. The research allowed for identifying 16 key values observed in the business models of cultural heritage tourism sites and then classify them into three groups, i.e., values proposed to the customer, values captured by the enterprise and social values. The following values were of the highest importance: promotion of historical industrial heritage, satisfying cognitive needs, acting as a symbol of the area, brand strengthening and organization of tourist traffic, so that the industrial heritage is preserved. It was noticed that some values were significantly correlated with the attitudes of managers towards the exchange of knowledge within open innovation. The majority of managers participating in the research were convinced that the revitalization of cultural heritage sites and the business models of these sites should be in the form of open innovation. The limitation of the research carried out is the inability to deepen the interviews, which was caused by the lack of direct contact with managers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Full article

The study focused on the application of Open Innovations (OI) in industrial heritage tourist sites. The transformation of a former industrial plant into a tourist attraction is one of the most effective ways of heritage preservation. However the process of revitalization can take years or even decades, and guidelines set from experienced facilities that have already gone this path could be extremely valuable for regions aspiring to hold such sites in the future. The benefits would be mutual if the OI had an Outbound Pecuniary structure. Therefore the main goal of our study was to recognize the attitude of industrial heritage sites towards the concept of OI and sharing their experiences regarding revitalization and their business models. For this purpose, a survey was conducted on European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) members. The results that were received from 70 sites show that a vast majority of the subjects are open to the idea of OI with no limitations coming from the type of ownership they have, nor from the sector a recipient of OI would be from. The benefits gained from OI to ERIH sites could have a potentially significant impact on their future development. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the way tourism activities are conducted. Restrictions on moving from place to place have likely limited the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus but have also led to economic crisis in many countries around the world. In this article, we assessed the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the activities of cultural heritage tourism sites in Europe. Scientific research was carried out in industrial heritage tourism sites associated with the European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH). Analysis of the literature and the results of our own research indicated a strong impact of the pandemic on the examined sites, expressed in the limitation of the operating time of the sites, a decrease in the number of tourists attended to, and a decrease in revenues. No significant reduction in employment was noticed. These sites were not generally used in preventive actions during the health crisis. Only some managers took an active part in supporting emergency services in a difficult situation. We concluded that taking up innovative functions by tourism enterprises should be open innovation. Full article

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. Full article

The aim of this article is to discuss the basic types of business transformations identified in post-industrial heritage sites in the context of changes in business models. The basis for this analysis is the research carried out in 2017 in 42 post-industrial tourism objects, in the Industrial Monuments Route (IMR) largest in Poland, that is a part of European Route of Industrial Heritage. The analysis of historical changes and the documentation of objects, within the Industrial Monuments Route, made it possible to identify three transformation types in business models of these objects. The post-production organization model can be considered the most popular scheme on the analyzed route. It concerns an enterprise or cultural institution, that previously was a production or extraction plant and currently services tourists only. Although these objects were not designed with tourists in mind, they perfectly fulfill this function due to the presented transformations. Full article