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Industrial heritage tourism
Tourism Management 55 (2016) 197
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Tourism Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tourman
Book review Industrial Heritage Tourism, P.F. Xie. Channel View Publications, Bristol (2015). 254 pp. (Hbk.), £99.95, ISBN: 978-1-84541-513-6 The industrial past and its material remnants are among the most pervasive heritage resources worldwide. In some regions of post-Fordist economies, industrial archaeology is the most salient heritage resource for tourism development. Serious niche tourists with interests in railways/trains, mines, factories and assembly plants, forestry operations, agricultural production and other extractive and manufacturing activities, as well as casual visitors, frequently seek the material culture of industrial activities. UNESCO has begun inscribing increasing numbers of industrial locales on its World Heritage List. The Council of Europe has designated several important heritage routes to commemorate the importance of industry in the development of European cultural identities, and there is mounting interest among industrial operators (e.g. mines, quarries and factories) to enlist tourism as a means of supplementing production income, branding places, increasing consumer demand for manufactured products, and improving public relations. Given the important crossover between heavy industry and tourism, since the 1990s scholarly research in industrial heritagebased tourism has grown exponentially. This astute tome capitalizes on this trend and provides a solid foundation for future research on industrial heritage tourism. In this volume, Philip Xie builds upon this subfield of heritage tourism and expands the line of inquiry to a higher plane. Laying the conceptual foundation for the book, Xie carefully traces the history of industrial development in the Western world from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. He effectively defines industrial heritage tourism and the challenges associated with it. Chapter 2 is the strongest chapter conceptually and offers an ideographic framework for understanding and interpreting industrial heritage tourism from the perspectives of image, community, space and conservation, with the primary attributes of industrial heritagebased tourism being potentials, stakeholders, adaptive reuse, economics, authenticity and community and tourist perceptions. Chapters 3e6 apply the model to a variety of international case studies of industrial heritage, including auto manufacturing and museums, salt processing operations, docklands and waterfront redevelopment, and cloth factories in several different countries. The most valuable aspect of this volume is its empirical strength, from which the concepts proposed derive naturally. The sagacious book is global in its appeal and touches upon nearly all aspects of
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2016.02.019 0261-5177
industrial heritage and tourism, including the salient issues of authenticity, adaptive reuse, urban renewal/gentrification, conservation, derelict landscapes, place and placelessness, and brownfields recovery, to name only a few. The book is well-written, instructive, eye-catching in appearance, and a go-to foundational resource. Each case study chapter is meticulously laid out and well organized, and effectively reflects back to the original model presented in Chapter 2. The book's chapters highlight nearly all issues of concern to contemporary uses of the industrial past as a resource for tourism and recreation. Having said that, however, the reviewer would like to have seen a more systematic discussion of the intangible heritage associated with industrialization. International ‘economic/industrial migration’ and its effects on nationalism, cuisine, music and folklore; cultural traditions and societal configurations; deindustrialization and the lore of the ghost town; and the valuation of industrial heritage with the development of peri-urban ‘tourist shopping villages’ are examples of intangible patrimony that can be linked directly to the industrial past and are in some instances just as important heritage elements as the tangible vestiges of industrial development. Likewise, while the author does touch on deindustrialization processes throughout the tome, a devoted section on it would be helpful in laying the groundwork for understanding the touristification of industrial landscapes and places. These minor critiques aside, Industrial Heritage Tourism provides a succinct and meticulous model and method for rethinking historical mechanization processes, modern-day industrial operations, and their tangible vestiges as consumable heritage products. This seminal book is essential reading for all students and scholars who are interested in heritage conservation, industrialization processes, urban renewal, and heritage as a consumable commodity. I applaud Philip Xie for delivering an erudite and informative monograph and introducing a useful framework for understanding industrial heritage, which will no doubt have significant implications for the academy as this subfield of inquiry continues to flourish. Dallen J. Timothy School of Community Resources and Development, Arizona State University, USA E-mail address: [email protected].
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Tourism Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tourman
Book review Industrial Heritage Tourism, P.F. Xie. Channel View Publications, Bristol (2015). 254 pp. (Hbk.), £99.95, ISBN: 978-1-84541-513-6 The industrial past and its material remnants are among the most pervasive heritage resources worldwide. In some regions of post-Fordist economies, industrial archaeology is the most salient heritage resource for tourism development. Serious niche tourists with interests in railways/trains, mines, factories and assembly plants, forestry operations, agricultural production and other extractive and manufacturing activities, as well as casual visitors, frequently seek the material culture of industrial activities. UNESCO has begun inscribing increasing numbers of industrial locales on its World Heritage List. The Council of Europe has designated several important heritage routes to commemorate the importance of industry in the development of European cultural identities, and there is mounting interest among industrial operators (e.g. mines, quarries and factories) to enlist tourism as a means of supplementing production income, branding places, increasing consumer demand for manufactured products, and improving public relations. Given the important crossover between heavy industry and tourism, since the 1990s scholarly research in industrial heritagebased tourism has grown exponentially. This astute tome capitalizes on this trend and provides a solid foundation for future research on industrial heritage tourism. In this volume, Philip Xie builds upon this subfield of heritage tourism and expands the line of inquiry to a higher plane. Laying the conceptual foundation for the book, Xie carefully traces the history of industrial development in the Western world from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. He effectively defines industrial heritage tourism and the challenges associated with it. Chapter 2 is the strongest chapter conceptually and offers an ideographic framework for understanding and interpreting industrial heritage tourism from the perspectives of image, community, space and conservation, with the primary attributes of industrial heritagebased tourism being potentials, stakeholders, adaptive reuse, economics, authenticity and community and tourist perceptions. Chapters 3e6 apply the model to a variety of international case studies of industrial heritage, including auto manufacturing and museums, salt processing operations, docklands and waterfront redevelopment, and cloth factories in several different countries. The most valuable aspect of this volume is its empirical strength, from which the concepts proposed derive naturally. The sagacious book is global in its appeal and touches upon nearly all aspects of
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2016.02.019 0261-5177
industrial heritage and tourism, including the salient issues of authenticity, adaptive reuse, urban renewal/gentrification, conservation, derelict landscapes, place and placelessness, and brownfields recovery, to name only a few. The book is well-written, instructive, eye-catching in appearance, and a go-to foundational resource. Each case study chapter is meticulously laid out and well organized, and effectively reflects back to the original model presented in Chapter 2. The book's chapters highlight nearly all issues of concern to contemporary uses of the industrial past as a resource for tourism and recreation. Having said that, however, the reviewer would like to have seen a more systematic discussion of the intangible heritage associated with industrialization. International ‘economic/industrial migration’ and its effects on nationalism, cuisine, music and folklore; cultural traditions and societal configurations; deindustrialization and the lore of the ghost town; and the valuation of industrial heritage with the development of peri-urban ‘tourist shopping villages’ are examples of intangible patrimony that can be linked directly to the industrial past and are in some instances just as important heritage elements as the tangible vestiges of industrial development. Likewise, while the author does touch on deindustrialization processes throughout the tome, a devoted section on it would be helpful in laying the groundwork for understanding the touristification of industrial landscapes and places. These minor critiques aside, Industrial Heritage Tourism provides a succinct and meticulous model and method for rethinking historical mechanization processes, modern-day industrial operations, and their tangible vestiges as consumable heritage products. This seminal book is essential reading for all students and scholars who are interested in heritage conservation, industrialization processes, urban renewal, and heritage as a consumable commodity. I applaud Philip Xie for delivering an erudite and informative monograph and introducing a useful framework for understanding industrial heritage, which will no doubt have significant implications for the academy as this subfield of inquiry continues to flourish. Dallen J. Timothy School of Community Resources and Development, Arizona State University, USA E-mail address: [email protected].