Mining tourism as a guarantee of sustainable development of industrial regions (on the example of Kryvyi Rih region)

Sustainable tourism is fundamentally about preserving and enhancing natural, historical, or cultural heritage, as well as promoting activities related to local identity and history. For mining regions, one of the ways to diversify their economies on a sustainable basis is to develop the tourism sector. The development of niche forms of tourism, which are fully focused on the resources of the industrial area, helps to supplement and diversify the tourist offer in these regions, including industrial tourism and one of its areas - mining tourism. The objective of the study is to reveal the importance of sustainable development for an old industrial region, using Kryvyi Rih as an example, by intensifying tourism activities that would maximize the social, economic, cultural, and environmental benefits of tourism. The research is based on the dialectical method of cognition and a systematic approach. The research was carried out on the basis of parallel use of theoretical (comparative analysis, abstraction, specification and generalization) and empirical methods (expeditionary methods, observations, the method of field visual inspections, content analysis, etc.) As a result of the study, approaches to the concept of "mining tourism" were structured, and the key objects of interest of consumers of this tourist destination were identified. Global trends in the transformation of industrial areas for the needs of mining tourism were analyzed. The information on mining facilities in Kryvyi Rih is systematized and their suitability for the tourism sector is diagnosed. Based on the diagnostics, the use of various mining facilities in thematic tour programs is proposed, which is confirmed by the results of practical tourism activities.