Transforming Brownfields as Tourism Destinations and Their Sustainability on the Example of Slovakia

This study analyzes the issue of mining brownfields (sites abandoned after the extraction of minerals) in terms of their secondary use after revitalization as potential new sites of mining tourism. In the first part of the paper, we deal with the theoretical basis of the study, the conceptualization of mining brownfields, possibilities for their revitalization, and their sustainability for mining tourism. In the second part, we analyze mining brownfields as devastated mining sites using a questionnaire survey conducted among students of geotourism and geography at three Slovak universities in Kosice, Banska Bystrica, and Presov. The result of our several years of field research was a database of mining brownfields in Slovakia. According to our findings and the latest theoretical and methodological literature about other types of brownfields, we compiled a comprehensive definition of mining brownfields. The questionnaire survey confirmed that mining brownfields are interesting destinations for (mining) tourism with long-term sustainability. The equipment of the services did not directly determine the number of visitors, who did not perceive the risk and danger of visiting mining brownfields.