The article discusses the course of tourism space penetration in old single-industry towns. Common patterns and special features of this process are revealed, Lodz, Poland taken as an example. The study examines economic history of the city for the period of XIX – early XX centuries’ industrial boom when key branches of the city’s economy were formed. This knowledge was later used as a basis for Lodz tourism mega-product concept. Deep crisis of the late XX century led to the urban space transformation through the tertiary sector growth and the improvement of the city’s tourism attractiveness. Arrangement of tourism space penetration in Lodz is viewed through the prism of old industrial sites revival, development of new demanded tourism products, effective event management and marketing campaign on promoting Lodz as cultural and tourism centre. The action plan for revitalization of old single-industry towns is presented. The article looks into a large amount of official statistical information of Lodz region together with the wide range of works by Polish authors as well as Internet sites of Polish National Tourism Administration. The methods of field studies (based on the author’s multiple visits to Lodz for scientific purposes) and expert in-depth interviews are the most important in broad spectrum of general scientific and special research methods. The author would like to express her gratitude to the Polish scientists, Stanislaw Liszewski and Bogdan Wlodarczyk in particular, for their support in writing this article.
urban tourism, cultural tourism, event tourism, tourism space penetration, special economic zone, brand, tourist route, Poland, Lodz.
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