ABSTRACT
The implications of the study provide suggestions for future improvements relating to the development of industrial tourism destinations. The possibility of ‘re-using’ the old industrial and mining heritage could favour the development of an economic opportunity to the recession that affected most industrial regions after the 1960s. This paper is focused on the field of industrial heritage tourism management (IHTM) to deepen the knowledge about its business ecosystem. The IHTM is chosen because a number of evidences highlight the interconnections that exist between this field and the business ecosystem concept. To explore these interconnections, the purpose of this article is to define a frame of analysis based also on the emergent initiative of smart tourism and to set up a theoretical framework not only used to the case study of the region of Rio Tinto mine in Spain, but also used as a policy instrument to suggest propositions for recommending new paths for future studies.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Maria Concetta Perfetto holds a PhD in Accounting, Management and Finance. Her main research area of interest is the management of cultural heritage with a focus on industrial heritage. She is also interested in the implication that cultural heritage management has on tourism management and destination development.
Alfonso Vargas-Sánchez, PhD in Business Administration, is a chair professor at the Spanish University of Huelva, in its Management and Marketing Department, where he heads the research group on tourism, named GEIDETUR. Research interests include strategic management of tourist companies and destinations; smart tourism destinations.