Industrial Tourism Potential of an Old Industrial Region

Abstract

The current crisis in the domestic economy and the tightened international sanctions exacerbate the issue of finding industries that can boost regional development. Tourism is an alternative to traditional industries in an old industrial region. It can rebrand the territory and make an industrial region generate tourist flows. Each old industrial region of the Russian Federation has its own strategies for the development of the tourism industry. Usually, they aim at a total rebranding of their territory, thus rejecting their traditional industrial image. As a result, strategic documents often ignore the touristic potential of old industrial regions. However, industrial tourism can encourage the development of the tourism industry in such regions. The present article introduces some possibilities for the development of industrial tourism in the Kemerovo Region based on consumer preferences. The research methodology relied on an integrated approach to the local touristic resources and involved 160 students of the Kemerovo State University who were asked to assess the attractiveness of the local industrial tourism. The authors used the cluster approach to describe some potential directions for industrial tourism in the Kemerovo Region.