Strategic Communication (SIMA)

From online experience to visiting the production plant: management challenges and communication opportunities

Kamel Ben Youssef, Martha Friel, Grazia Murtarelli, Stefania Romenti

Industrial tourism, understood as visiting working production plants, company visitor centres and corporate museums, is an area that has been relatively little investigated in the literature but which is an interesting tourism niche today, one that also offers opportunities for companies to diversify and innovate their communication activities and to test new hybrid marketing channels. Additionally, industrial tourism could represent an asset in country image and reputation building processes, if it is communicated and shared strategically (Otgaar et al., 2016),

The interest of destinations and tourists in industrial tourism is relatively recent and has developed especially since the mid-90s with the first dedicated tourist guides such as “Watch it Made in the USA: A visitor Guide to the Companies that Make your Favorite Products” (Axelrod and Brumberg, 1994),

#corporate communication #corporate narratives #digital tourism #Industrial tourism #plant visits