TY - JOUR
KW - Austria
KW - cultural heritage
KW - Eu place-based development strategies
KW - European Union
KW - Industrial heritage tourism
KW - Industrial tourism
KW - Network-based management strategies
KW - Regional development
KW - Small (peripheral) towns
KW - Sustainability
KW - Tangible and intangible heritage
KW - economic impact
KW - ecotourism
KW - heritage tourism
KW - Regional development
KW - stakeholder
KW - Sustainable development
AU - Joern Harfst
AU - Jasmin Sandriester
AU - Wolfgang Fischer
AB - The valorization of cultural heritage for regional development (“Conservation 3.0") has been a widely used concept in the last decade. Heritage institutions and the European Union have advocated and fostered the view of cultural heritage as a place-based development potential. Therefore, this article investigates the impacts of such approaches in the context of sustainable development. It does so with a specific focus on more peripheral, (old) industrial regions in Central Europe, where industrial heritage and industrial tourism play an important role. Based on this background, this article highlights the difficulties of establishing a tourism product based on industry-related features. The product mainly serves a niche market, thereby not helping to overcome structural disadvantages of peripheral regions. The economic impacts of industrial heritage tourism on the transition towards a more sustainable regional development are rather low. Nevertheless, the case study highlights the social benefits that industry-related tourism yields in regions in transformation, forming an important pre-condition for any future development. However, ecological aspects are not widely addressed in heritage tourism in this region. Policy-wise, stakeholders in peripheral regions should be more aware of the different limits and opportunities cultural heritage utilizations can bring in terms of achieving a more sustainable regional development.
DO - 10.3390/su13073857
M1 - 7
N1 - Publisher: MDPI AG
N2 - The valorization of cultural heritage for regional development (“Conservation 3.0") has been a widely used concept in the last decade. Heritage institutions and the European Union have advocated and fostered the view of cultural heritage as a place-based development potential. Therefore, this article investigates the impacts of such approaches in the context of sustainable development. It does so with a specific focus on more peripheral, (old) industrial regions in Central Europe, where industrial heritage and industrial tourism play an important role. Based on this background, this article highlights the difficulties of establishing a tourism product based on industry-related features. The product mainly serves a niche market, thereby not helping to overcome structural disadvantages of peripheral regions. The economic impacts of industrial heritage tourism on the transition towards a more sustainable regional development are rather low. Nevertheless, the case study highlights the social benefits that industry-related tourism yields in regions in transformation, forming an important pre-condition for any future development. However, ecological aspects are not widely addressed in heritage tourism in this region. Policy-wise, stakeholders in peripheral regions should be more aware of the different limits and opportunities cultural heritage utilizations can bring in terms of achieving a more sustainable regional development.
TI - Industrial Heritage Tourism as a Driver of Sustainable Development? A Case Study of Steirische Eisenstrasse (Austria)
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85104004663&doi=10.3390%2fsu13073857&partnerID=40&md5=8a613a618cc2391ec5706be0b83bcf7c
VL - 13
SN - 20711050 (ISSN)
ER -