Industrial Heritage Tourism:
Landscapes of Nostalgia
Philip F. Xie, Ph.D.
Professor, Tourism, Leisure and Event Planning Program
School of Human Movement, Sport and Leisure Studies
Detropia: Ruin Porn
Industrial Past
Landscapes of Nostalgia
Les Lieux de Mémoire
(Sites of Memory)
 The industrial landscape
 Industrial remains, ruins,
warehouses, factories, etc.
 New space for resourceful
reinterpretation
 New “tourist gaze” directs at
industrial heritage sites
 Third Industrial Revolution
Industrial Heritage
Tourism

The Ironbridge Gorge Museum
in UK (birthplace of Industrial
Revolution)

Tate Modern, London (former
Bankside power station)

The Distillery District in
Toronto, Canada

The movement of Kojo Moe in
Japan (factory love)

Museum of the Automobile
(Museo dell'Automobile) in
Italy

BMW European program
Commodification of
Industrial Heritage
Presentation
 Demonstrate how industrial heritage tourism can be
theorized from historical, cultural, social and economic
perspectives
 Present case studies of industrial heritage tourism sites
and compare the differences and approaches by
countries in North America, Asia and Australasia
 Make suggestions about the future of industrial heritage
tourism research and development
Theorizing Heritage:
Landscape, Memory and Identity
 Heritage is a transposable concept that is often disputed, yet
dispute creates heritage (Cassia, 1999: 254)
 Tangible and intangible heritage
 Rubbish theory (Thompson, 1979)
 The value of an object is rising and falling depending upon
context as it ages
 Perceived scarcity or other changes of valuation cause prices to
rise as the object ages
 Vintage automobiles, typewriters, and other industrial products
Undesirable Heritage
 Grotesque heritage (industrial heritage in the Soviet era)
 Prescriptive forgetting (the concentration camps and
forced labor were used to manufacture automobiles
during World War II in Germany)
 Repressive erasure (Communist-era military bunkers in
Eastern Europe)
Nostalgia
 Misrecognition of the past
 Temporal distortion
 Postmodern imagination
 Industrial heritage is subject to the kind of dehistoricizing and
romanticizing imagery that “characterizes nostalgic treatments of
more distant but nonetheless passing ways of life” (Strangleman,
2011)
 Nostalgic consumer – contemporary “spelunker”
 Although nostalgia plays a key role in the revival of cultural
heritage, it is inherently inauthentic, mainly because it uses memory
that is highly unstable and unique to visitor (Hodge, 2011)
History of Industrial
Heritage Tourism
 The introduction of World’s Fairs in the late 19th century
 The Crystal Palace in 1851
 Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of 1893
 Le tourisme industriel (Industry Quebec, 1982)
 Industrietourismus (Soyez, 1986)
 The Industrial Heritage: Managing Resources and Uses
(Alfrey & Putnam, 1992)
Definitions of Industrial
Heritage Tourism
 Industrial tourism, factory tourism, factory visits, company tours,
industrial archeology
 Industrial heritage presents and preserves the historical, technological,
social, scientific and architectural values of industrial traditions
 Revitalize Rustbelts
 Improve region’s image
 Counteract public prejudice
 Enhance economic development
 Raise tourist profile of cities and regions
Definition
 The vicissitude of industrial transformation in recent decades
are too rapid, ephemeral and apt to vacillate operating and
non-operating to distinguish between industry and industrial
heritage
 Transform industrial heritage to the core attraction of tourism
and revalue/modify the essence of industrial heritage to
create the passage of experiencing the traditions and to satisfy
the recreational needs of tourists
 Industrial sites, both functional and no longer functional,
partake in tourism by offering the kind of coherent and
commodifiable image that is necessary to produce the tourist
experience
Challenges of Industrial
Heritage Tourism
Lack of public awareness
Lack of economic measures
Spatial and regional complexities
Conceptual Framework
The Process of Industrial
Heritage Tourism
Conservation
 Potentials
 Industrial triage
 Assess the characteristics of the
industrial areas
 Stakeholders
 Business leaders, planners, sponsors,
etc.
Space
 Adaptive Reuse
 Recycle for new uses and tourist
attractions
Community
 Economics
 Take advantage of historical character, ambience and
sense of place
 Creative economy
 Authenticity
 Opposite of generic
 Genius loci
Images
 Perceptions
 A common community perception
Proposed Jeep Museum,
Toledo, Ohio
 Willys-Overland: first
Jeep in the world
 The most prosperous
city in 1960s
 Daimler-Chrysler AG
 “A smile that is
missing a lot of teeth”
Proposed National Jeep Museum
 Urban regeneration
 City image
 Economics
Methodology
 In-depth interview:
Stakeholders in
different fields
 The examination of
historical documents
 Telephone
interviews
Results
 Huge potentials and conflicted views from stakeholders
 Controversial reuse and ill-informed economic impact
 Slippery authenticity and poor perception
Huge potentials and conflicted
views from stakeholders
 The potential costs and benefits for the community
 The need of strong support from Chrysler
 The authentic preparation for the museum
 Local participation
Controversial reuse and ill-informed
economic impact
 The building of museum for conservation and
interpretation
 The manipulation of the urban landscape to satisfy
visitors’ expectation
 A weak private-public partnership
Slippery authenticity and poor
perception
 The authentic location
 The commodification of Jeep
 Poor community perception
Research Implications
 Increase public awareness
 Strong government support
 Encourage public-private partnership
Salt Heritage Tourism
Salt Tourism in Taiwan
 Southwestern region in
Taiwan was once dominated
by the salt industry
 The significance of the salt
production economy to
locals’ livelihood formed the
cultural landscape
 The solar evaporation
method
Renovation Scheme



Themes

Production process: the solar
evaporation method

Products: flaky sea salt used
for souvenirs
Programs

Participatory experience

Interpretative assistance
Designs

Modern design

Nostalgic style
Methodology
 The experiments was undertaken in the Dongsan Rest
Area along the highway
 Respondents were randomly assigned to one of
experimental groups
 Respondents were asked to fill out the questionnaire
regarding perceived experience in themes, programs, and
designs, perceived attractiveness and socio-demographics
 440 respondents participated and 412 were valid
Findings
 Participatory experience was ranked highest. It provides
fun and memorable experience for tourists
 Both nostalgic and modern décor perceived as major
attractions for salt tourism
 Tourists want certain aspects of experiences to signal
traditionalism, while they like souvenir products to be
rather modern
Rail Tourism
 Railroads are a huge part of the State’s tourism niche and
accounts for about 6% of the tourism dollars in the State.
 Rail tourism includes
 short train rides,
 railroad park observations,
 museum visitations,
 special events, such as rail fairs, festivals and days
 Rail tourism provides potential economic benefits for these
towns as a means of business and heritage identity
Problems
 Little research has been done to examine the profiles of
rail enthusiasts;
 Economic impacts of rail tourism on the local
communities have been ignored;
 Many towns neglect the potentials of using railroads as a
tourism resource to revive the economy.
Research Objectives
 Identify the problems and prospects of rail tourism;
 Economic impact of rail tourism in relation to
substantial economic expenditures
 Understand the profile of rail tourists
Rail Tourism Attractions

Scenic railroads and the railroad observation parks: These are the most popular sites that
attract rail tourists and enthusiasts and generate the most visible benefits for the
communities. The examples are and Jefferson Depot;

Railway organizations for travel and tourism: By serving as Destination Marketing
Organizations (DMOs), these groups raise the awareness of rail tourism and promote
destination travel. Well-known organizations for rail tourism include Cuyahoga Valley
scenic railroad and Midwest Railway Preservation Society in Cleveland;

Rail excursions companies: These companies provide tourism opportunities for individuals
interested in rail tourism with short rides to selected destinations. Examples of rail
excursion companies are Ashtabula’s Carson & Jefferson railway; and

Railway museums: These sites provide representations of community culture and heritage
relating to railroads. Among the museums that we will visit are the Toledo, Lake Erie and
Western Railway and Museum located in Waterville and Conneaut Historical Railroad
Museum.
Case Study
 Ohio has the highest number of public highway crossings of
train tracks in the US due to its flat geography;
 Everyone in Ohio is approximately within 10 miles of a
railroad track
 Deshler, Ohio, was ranked as one of top ten towns for rail
enthusiasts according to Wall Street Journal (May 19, 2007).
 The town caters to rail nostalgia with a city park at the
diamond-shaped crossing of two busy CSX Railroad tracks
with picnic facilities and a speaker to broadcast the track
controllers’ conversations.
Methodology
 Survey railway infrastructure in Deschler. The
infrastructure encompasses a variety of facilities and
amenities to attract tourists, such as the quality of the
railway, the availability of observation areas, the quality
of museums and the nearby hotels and restaurants;
 Conduct interviews with rail enthusiasts to gauge their
demographics and expenditures of travels so that we can
gauge the potential economic benefits for the site and the
local communities.
Findings
 Poor perception of using railway for tourism
 Rail enthusiasts: 35 to 55 years old, average educational
attainment, males, $35,000 to $55,000 annual income
 Interests in rail were brought up by the influence of families
and friends
 Nostalgia
 Selective memories
 Constructive suggestions for future improvement
Research Implications
 Niche market in the US
 Marketing and promotion
 Word of mouth
 Revitalization of railway
 Understanding the profile of rail enthusiasts
Waterfront
Redevelopment
 In recent decades, numerous waterfronts have undergone
a reorientation from brownfields to commercial,
residential and recreational areas.
 Docklands in London, UK
 The Baltimore waterfront in the US
 The Tokyo Waterfront City, Odaiba in Japan
 The riverfront development in Thailand and Singapore
Auckland, New Zealand
The Scope of Auckland Waterfront
Problems
 Lack of morphological analysis
 The relationship with tourism development
 Public participation
 Socioeconomic impacts of the waterfront redevelopment
Heritage Components
 Industrial heritage
 Maritime heritage
 City of sails
 The America’s Cup
 World Rugby Cup
Methodology
 Reviews of documents
 Fieldworks
 Maps
 Morphological process of
the waterfront
The Commercial
Waterfront
c. 1950
C en
Commercial
Point
Bay
Britomart
Point Stanley
Freemans
Bay
Waitemata Harbour
tral
Wh
arf
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ther
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rf
Waitemata Harbour
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Wh
arf
1866
rf
ha
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Official Bay
Auckland Railway
Station Yard
Mechanics
Bay
Albert
Barracks
Albert
Park
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1895
Freemans
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Mechanics
Bay
Albert
Park
Albert Park
1925
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Waitemata Harbour
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Land reclamation
Auckland Railway
Station Yard
Albert
Park
Foreshore line in 1841
Working Port
Initial Stages of
Redevelopment
Commercial Recreation
Wynyard Quarter
Combination of Governmental
Intervention and Developer
Mixed-Used Approach
Research Implications
 Directing morphology toward understanding the physical and
socioeconomic impacts of major factors, which have
influenced the revitalization of the waterfront in Auckland
 Governance structures
 The process has inevitably diluted the significance of
industrial heritage and maritime histories, and created a new
meaning: redevelopment becomes a commodity traded by
governments and estate developers
 The Wynyard Quarter
Conclusions
 Living industrial heritage for tourism
 Partnership toward a common goal
 The production of mixed-use spaces
 Understanding tourist segmentations
 The growth of industrial heritage tourism as an
academic discipline
Terrain Vague
 the Spanish architect, Ignasi de SolàMorales, coins the term terrain vague
in French, industrial heritage tourism
constantly serves to remind people of
the ways in which “the memory of
the past seems to predominate over
the present”.