EXAMINING THE SUPPORT OF THE LOCAL COMMUNITY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE MINING TOURISM

Abstract

There is an increasing interest in mines and facilities related to the mining and industrial heritage perceived as tourist attractions on the global scale. Mining tourism, as a specific tourist segment within the industrial heritage tourism, diversifies a largely standardised tourist offer, providing tourists with a different experience and aesthetics of the landscape. Mining tourism has the potential to improve the social, economic and environmental elements of the local community, as well as to expand the development of tourism within the regional scale. This study aims to examine the support of the local community for the development of mining tourism in the context of sustainable development. This topic is up to date as it deals with a specific relation between the local community and tourism. Mining tourism has the potential to enhance the development of sites which are otherwise not so attractive to tourists.