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Industrial Tourism: Opportunities for City and Enterprise
This report presents the findings of an international comparative study carried out by the European Institute for Comparative Urban Research (Euricur) into the development of industrial tourism in cities. Industrial tourism is a type of tourism which involves visits to operational or non-operational firms with a core business that is non-tourism related; industrial tourism offers visitors an experience with regard to the product, the production process, the applications, and historical backgrounds. The aim of this research has been to promote knowledge development in the field of industrial tourism, resulting in concrete recommendations for municipalities, firms and other stakeholders.
The international research is based on the assumption that industrial tourism offers opportunities for both city and enterprise. Particularly for cities with a considerable industrial base, industrial tourism comprises interesting possibilities to strengthen the economic structure (direct and indirect employment) and to increase the supply of tourist products. For such cities, industrial tourism is a potential growth sector that matches with their identity: the sector offers opportunities to strengthen their distinctiveness and image, notably by building on their existing assets.
Many cities have the assets to develop industrial tourism, but fail to capitalise on them. In most cases industrial tourism is only restricted to low-profile company visits, without any clear vision of the municipality or firm on the strategic value of it, not to mention coordinated product development. For that reason, our study targets cities and firms that have given or intend to give industrial tourism a prominent place in their vision and strategy.
The development of industrial tourism largely depends on the ability of firms to cooperate. On the one hand, we observe that many firms consider company tours an obligation with more costs than revenues. Many companies are afraid of leaking confidential business information, and also security often constitutes a problem. On the other hand, more and more companies also recognise the opportunities of industrial tourism: industrial tourism can help to market their product, to secure their license to operate (reputation), and to remain attractive as employer.
From the observation that industrial tourism offers opportunities for city and enterprise, and the fact that in many cities these potentials are not utilised to the full, we come to the following central question:
Under what circumstances can industrial tourism make a strategic contribution to the competitiveness of city and enterprise?
The aim of this study has been to gain insight into the opportunities, the barriers that obstruct the utilisation of these potentials, and the possibilities to reduce these barriers. To that end, a conceptual framework has been developed – to be introduced in Chapter 2 – in which these conditions and the relations between them are indicated. Such conditions concern not only the qualities of the individual tourist products, but also the (internal) accessibility and the way in which the industrial tourism product is marketed as a package (or combination of packages). Moreover, we pay attention to the financial and organisational conditions that should be met. For instance, we assume that actors have to recognise their interest in investments in industrial tourism, and that they have to be willing to cooperate in order to develop an attractive tourist product.
To answer the research question formulated above, Euricur has carried out an international comparative study. This study consists of a thorough analysis of the relevant literature resulting in a research framework (chapter 2), six case studies (chapters 3 till 8), and a chapter with conclusions and recommendations (chapter 9). For the case studies, information has been collected by means of desk research and interviews with representatives of (potential) stakeholders in industrial tourism.
Publication details
| Title: | Industrial Tourism: Opportunities for City and Enterprise |
| Author(s): | Leo van den Berg, Alexander Otgaar, Christian Berger, Drs Rachel Xiang Feng |
| Reference: | Otgaar, A.H.J., L. van den Berg, C. Berger and R. Xiang Feng (2008), Industrial Tourism: Opportunities for City and Enterprise, Euricur, Rotterdam |
| Cities: | Cologne, Nantes, Rotterdam, Shanghai, Turin, Wolfsburg |
| Partner(s): | IHS |
| How to order: | The Chapters 1, 2 and 9 can be downloaded. For the full report, please contact the Euricur secretariat. |
| Projects | Industrial tourism |
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