New Geo- and Mining Heritage-Based Tourist Destinations in the Sudetes (SW Poland)—Towards More Effective Resilience of Local Communities

Edyta Pijet-Migoń and Piotr Migoń ()
Additional contact information
Edyta Pijet-Migoń: Faculty of Finance and Management, WSB Merito University in Wrocław, ul. Fabryczna 29–31, 53-609 Wrocław, Poland
Piotr Migoń: Institute of Geography and Regional Development, University of Wrocław, pl. Uniwersytecki 1, 50-137 Wrocław, Poland

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 13, 1-28

Abstract: This paper explores several geotourist destinations in the mountainous area of SW Poland, either recently created or being developed right now, where the unifying theme is the emergence of a new site of interest in a place formerly inaccessible due to mining operations. We focus on five sites, including three in the territory of Land of the Extinct Volcanoes UNESCO Global Geopark, connected with the legacy of mining (coal, ores) and quarrying (solid rock, aggregates). For each locality, the history of mining is briefly outlined, followed by the presentation of its conversion into a tourist object and current use. The localities illustrate, at the same time, (a) various aspects of geoheritage and its connection with human activities, thus in line with the ABC concept promoted for geoparks and similar initiatives; (b) attempts to alleviate problems of abandoned mining grounds and their management; (c) different ways towards conversion of formerly inaccessible localities into tourist destinations; (d) ideas to increase the portfolio of (geo)tourist products at the regional scale, striving to achieve greater balance in the geographical distribution of sites of potential interest; and (e) a variety of current management challenges. Overall, it is argued that in each case, the emergence of a new site of interest is beneficial for the local community, as the visibility of the place is increasing, tourist visits grow, local identity is strengthened, and new employment opportunities arise, both directly and indirectly.

Keywords: geoheritage; sustainable tourism; geoeducation; adaptive reuse; resilience; Land of Extinct Volcanoes UNESCO Global Geopark (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/13/5626/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/13/5626/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:13:p:5626-:d:1426463

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().