Guides of the Falu Mine : Perceptions of Differences and Similarities onDomestic and International Visitors

Industrial heritage tourism has been in focus for many academic studies and tourism is an alternative developmental tool for mines and contributes to their economic success. This thesis is about the Falu Mine in Dalarna, Sweden, which has World Heritage status since 2001 and is one of the biggest attractions in the region. Its history and cultural importance are reasons for the importance of preserving the heritage. The Falu Mine is under the management of the Great Copper Mountain Trust and one of their ambitions is to ensure the continuous popularity among domestic and international visitors. In order to gain a better understanding of the visitors and to find strategies to improve performance, a visitor survey has been conducted in the summer of 2011. It is the authors believe that the guides of the Falu Mine have the best available insight and that their perceptions help to add to the understanding about the visitors. Therefore, this thesis aims to explore the perceptions of the guides about their visitors, to investigate how the perceptions correspond to the statistical results and to study if there are any differences between domestic and international visitors. The mixed methods approach will increase the depth and accuracy of the results, by linking qualitative with quantitative data. The results show that differences between domestic and international visitors exist, both proven by interviews with the guides and the visitor survey. These differences occur in the factors, such as level of education of the visitors, group size and number of children in the group, knowledge of the visitors prior to and after the visit, sources of information and the fulfillment of the visitor expectations. The perceptions emphasize how these differences impact the guided tours. The guides of the Falu Mine have to be aware of those differences in order to adjust the tour accordingly, as well as the management of the Falu Mine can use this knowledge in order to identify strategies for improving performance.

"Falun ovan från Falun under", ny kunskap om Falu gruva Projektrapport 1 : Metod- och kunskapsutveckling: projektuppbyggnad, att rekonstruera markförhållanden och uppbyggande av dendrokronologiska undersökningar

This report is the first presentation of the project 'Falun above from Falun under' and comprises two reports on ongoing work within the project and two individual articles on dating wood from older parts of the mine and buildings. The main aims of the project were to reconstruct the landscape surrounding Falu Copper mine before mining activity started and to determine how increasing activity in the area affected the environment, and whether this could be measured as a indicator of increasing human impact in the area.

"Falun ovan från Falun under", ny kunskap om Falu gruva. Projektrapport 2 : Jordartskartering och sedimentborrningar runt Falu gruva

This report is the second presentation of the project ‘Falun above from Falun under’ and comprises one report on ongoing work within the project. The main aims of this particular project are to reconstruct the landscape surrounding Falu Copper mine before mining activity started and to determine how increasing activity in the area affected the environment, and whether this could be measured as an indicator of increasing human impact in the area. This report presents the mapping and investigation of quaternary deposits and landscape analysis, the results from cores taken at two lake sites, Önsbacksdammen and Stora Vällan, 14C dating on selected seeds, and planning of continued research within the project.