Projects
22 September 2026
IndusTour: how six European regions are turning factories into tourist stops
Projects
22 September 2026
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IndusTour is testing whether letting tourists into working factories, former industrial sites and traditional mills can ease overcrowding elsewhere, an idea already showing measurable results in the Czech region of Moravia-Silesia. The approach treats industrial heritage, both active and retired, as an attraction in its own right rather than a niche curiosity.
Editorial team
IndusTour project
Topics
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
France
Poland
Serbia
Company with 250 or more employees
Destination Management & Marketing Organisations
Regional Authorities
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Specific types of tourism
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Urban/city tourism
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Transition Pathway Strategic Areas
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Changes in tourism demand and opportunities
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Cross-border travelling
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Innovative tourism services
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Business activities
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Other
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Other tourism transportation activities
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In Nošovice, Hyundai's Czech car plant runs free guided tours of its production line three times a week, in five languages, drawing close to 9,000 visitors last year despite the company selling no cars directly on site. A different model is on display at Dolní Vítkovice in Ostrava, a former steelworks closed in 1998 and reopened as a mixed-use site combining a museum, a technology centre, and the 80-metre Bolt Tower; it passed 1.7 million visitors last year, alongside regular school group visits. On a smaller scale, the 17th-century Bartošovice mill, still running on its original equipment, gives visitors a working look at traditional grain milling rather than a static heritage display.
IndusTour brings together six regions to develop this kind of tourism: Moravia-Silesia (Czechia), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (France), Łódź Voivodeship (Poland), Tønder (Denmark), Vojvodina (Serbia), and Cyprus. According to Lucie Ševčíková of the Moravia-Silesia tourism department, the goal is partly defensive: giving visitors tired of overcrowded destinations like Prague, Venice or Barcelona a genuine alternative, rooted in a region's own industrial history rather than a copy of what's already crowded elsewhere.
#TourismDevelopment #ExperientialTourism #CulturalPreservation
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