Dark Tourism

Dark tourism has grown as an area of study since the 1990s with a great deal of research carried out into visitor motivations in recent years. Visitor centres within the dark tourism sector have a balancing act between the education and entertainment elements of tourism and sensitivity to the difficult stories they tell as part of their remit. This study examines the importance of tourism to the survival of Ireland's remaining workhouse buildings and the role the workhouse museums play in the local community. Research found that the visitor demographics and responses correlated with other studies, with a similar spread of male and female respondents to the survey, similar reasons for visiting and many of the same emotional responses.

The workhouses are very large buildings spread over several acres of land and therefore can be difficult and expensive to maintain. Community is very important to the management at Donaghmore and Portumna, and both management teams are open to the use of the buildings for events and education. They are also aware of their place in the local communities, supporting other businesses such as accommodation and restaurants.

This chapter shows that not only are Ireland's workhouses an important part of the history of the country, but they also have a role in modern society as places to preserve and teach that history. Tourism plays an important role in the preservation of the remaining workhouses and in educating the public about a difficult time in Ireland's history.

Many dark tourism sites, in particular battlefields, memorials, and museums, are instrumental in constructing and reinforcing narratives of national identity. They serve as sites of secular pilgrimage and are central in denoting self and other. They also serve to identify key national moments and involve themes of sacrifice on behalf of the nation. This chapter examines the US National September 11 Museum in New York, which opened in 2014 from this standpoint. Scholars have argued the events of 9/11 were so profound and shocking that they created a “void of meaning” for Americans. This void has been filled in several ways, but important among them has been the creation of memorials and museums and the specific messages of US national identity included within them. The national September 11th Museum plays a particular leading role here in reinscribing dominant popular ideas of American national identity.

The concept of tourism is often a rosy experience for many, where one would even associate the term with amazing sight-seeing or some romantic experiences. In the recent past a different side of tourism has been gaining popularity. What is that? This side of tourism is based mainly on natural or man-made disasters. This chapter would be talking about Dark Tourism. People around the world are more inclined to know about tragedies, deaths, and brutal killing of people in masses. This inclination is making people visit such sites which further makes them understand, imagine (the reality of past), and know in depth about such sad occurrences.

This chapter would then give you a tour around more of similar type of tourisms namely disaster tourism, ghost tourism, and more. Tourists lately are proud of being known as “Dark Tourists” and they prefer to pay visit to places like the Auschwitz's Holocaust concentration camps, Catacombs, Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park, Bhangarh, and many more. This section would highlight the questionable sides of this tourism.

In the last segment of this chapter, the conclusion, would be drawn toward identifying whether Dark tourism is educational, like the other sides of tourism, or it is an exploitative side of the tourism that is merely trying to make profits from the tragedies happened across the globe.

The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the motivations and emotions of Western visitors to Robben Island. The methodology used is a qualitative research approach, with 25 participants conducting semi-structured interviews to acquire a better understanding of the visitors’ emotions and motives. Visitors’ motivations are “historical interest,” “earning and understanding,” “education,” “must-see,” “part of itinerary,” and “remembrance,” according to the findings. Furthermore, this study found that “sadness” is the most frequently encountered emotion by visitors to Robben Island. These insights can benefit a variety of tourism industry stakeholders, including the Robben Island Museum. The data can be used by the Robben Island Museum to improve the visitor experience. By understanding the range of emotions experienced by visitors, what evokes these emotions, and how emotions influence behavior, Robben Island Museum can focus on more effectively evoking these emotions. This will enhance the customer experience and create a greater impact and lasting impression.

Dark Tourism is a newly recognized niche tourism type that is first coined in 1996 by Lennon and Foley. This new term has attracted academicians and researchers globally. Till mid of 20th century, major work on dark tourism was limited to understanding its concept and giving it various names such as death tourism, black tourism, horror tourism, thanatourism, morbid tourism, and many more. After the mid-20th century, the focus of researchers was shifted to tourists’ psychology specifically on tourists’ motivation. Researchers suggested various motivational factors such as ‘curiosity of unusual,’ ‘education and learning,’ ‘historic interest,’ ‘inner purification,’ and ‘interested in death-related sites’ that influence tourists to seek dark attraction places. Recent research identified impact of dark places on visitors’ emotions and experiences. Some has argued that after visit tourists’ experience negative emotions such as depression or horror. While some suggested that dark tourism have positive emotion experience. This chapter is based on a secondary database, descriptive in nature, and aims to depict the motivation, purposes, and behavior of tourists toward dark attraction places that are linked to places of dark history.

In dark tourism, professional tourist guides are the primary intermediaries interacting with travelers. Guides provide them with an immersive and educational experience by drawing on many different fields such as history, geography, and literature in their narratives. They use a variety of sources in these fields to enrich their narratives, and literary works are one such source that can be particularly valuable. By drawing on the insights and inspiration from literary works, tourist guides can create engaging and memorable narratives that deepen visitors’ understanding of the local culture and heritage. The battlefield is one area where such enriched narratives are essential. Wars that have occurred in locations with both cultural and historical significance are well documented in national and international tourism literature. The way these battlefields are shown is novel. From this perspective, this study aims to: firstly, investigate battlefields that have not received sufficient attention, utilizing novels as underexplored literary sources; secondly, to analyze these sources through geo-literary reading, a relatively novel approach. The development of tour routes in five provinces in Turkey (Ankara, Eskişehir, Bilecik, Kütahya, and Afyon), where significant battles occurred during the national struggle over a period of four years, aims to provide travel companies with innovative tour programs for the global market and to facilitate the planning of specialized battlefield training for guides in these regions.

Generally, dark tourism is considered an area of segment currently being developed within the tourism industry due to its sudden popularity. Dark tourism is related to death, disaster, tragedy, and suffering. Nevertheless, the association has yet to be thoroughly researched. Thus, this study investigates the relationship between the marketing strategies employed in the dark tourism industry. This study explores the cinema or short web series/TV serials on dark tourism. In addition, the current development in entertainment media and the sudden rise of streaming platforms, social media, iCloud, content marketing, virtual influences, and bloggers in dark tourism play a pivotal role in this era. Thus, this study will investigate the relationship between these roles in dark tourism. The noticeable findings of this research are also to understand further roles within the marketing strategies that further affect dark tourism. Secondary data were explored to achieve the purpose of the study. This study has contributed to the body of knowledge regarding dark tourism and marketing strategies by providing in-depth information that will benefit scholars, tourism planners, and policymakers.

Dark tourism is a growing phenomenon that involves visiting places associated with death, tragedy, or suffering. Dark tourism places like war memorials, concentration camps, or sites of natural disasters. While dark tourism can have several positive benefits for local communities, such as economic boost and social awareness, it also poses some challenges, such as insensitivity to the feelings of the local community and exploitation. It is essential for local communities to carefully consider the potential benefits and challenges of dark tourism before developing dark tourism attractions. This chapter explores the positive and negative effects that dark tourism can have on these communities.

People's fascination with historical sites led to the development of the dark tourism phenomenon. Today's tourism idea has been affected by the obsession with sorrow and death, and many tourists from across the world visit regions connected to Sri Lanka. A notable case study for the growth of dark tourism in Asia is Sri Lanka, a South Asian nation that has been involved in a 26-year civil war with the Tamil Tigers and has left behind an ingenious historical relic system. There tend to be many competing viewpoints when it comes to historical battle sites, but having a particular cause to go there gives individuals a variety of feelings and experiences. This research paper reviews academic research into dark tourism over the 1996–2016 period. The way that tourists view war memorials depends on how they understand “their reality” as it is presented by the location and its inhabitants. The structure and numerous facets of the dark areas in South Asian culture, which are distinguished by a certain sort of enlightened pilgrims and ancestral ceremonial practice, are identified using a qualitative research technique. This study aimed to address those research aims by conducting semi-structured interviews with members of the general population. The researcher examines the information obtained through the interpretation and tales of the tour leader. The study advances our knowledge of dark tourism generally and in the context of Sri Lankan war zones, where the role of dark tourism in Sri Lanka's history of war has been underappreciated.

According to the definition, visiting any specific destination to explore and unfold the darkest event of human history is known as dark tourism. This journey involves much of the darker side of the travel which includes massacre, genocide, harlotry or flesh trade, ethnic cleansing, war, or disaster which is either natural and accidental or created by humans. Many international and domestic tourists travel around different states of India to explore its culture and community, foods and festivals, art, crafts and music, and the climate. The idea behind “dark tourism” is highly sensitive in the case of the Indian tourism context as Indian culture is much more possessive and protective compared to Western culture. The idea behind dark tourism and its utilization started in 1996; the phenomenon of this tourism mainly exists within a destination and is mainly controlled by societies and political regimes. This augmented exploration either encourages or discourages a tourist from exploring a destination for solo or group travel or restricts them due to psychological and social aspects. Many people think that dark tourism can increase interest in committing crimes and may increase the criminal mindset among individuals. The main objective of this research is to explore the major constraints and challenges of dark tourism.

This chapter clarifies the “dark tourism” in Vietnam; a case study of Hoa Lo Prison Relic. Development orientation of “dark tourism” in Vietnam contributes to healing the wounds of war. The author mainly uses a system approach, method of analysis and synthesis, and method of comparison. “Dark tourism” in Vietnam has not really developed as a specific type of tourism like ecotourism or meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) tourism. At Hoa Lo Prison historical site, “dark tourism” has been effectively exploited: (1) in the first 6 months of 2023, Hoa Lo Prison welcomes nearly 295 thousand visitors, charging fees of 7 billion VND, the situation of “sold out” takes place regularly; (2) many unique tourism products, one of the successful and widespread tourism products must be mentioned the “night tour” experience; (3) many creative forms of sightseeing with automatic explanation system so that visitors can experience 35 historical stories in their own way; and (4) always create the best conditions for visitors’ sightseeing experience. To promote dark tourism in Vietnam, it is necessary to execute some schemes: (i) enhance the sense of responsibility for peaceful tourism in the operation of monuments; (ii) stakeholders coordinate the organization of the tour program and tourist routes with appropriate contents and forms for each target group, especially foreign tourists; (iii) there is cooperation between national and international experts in organizing the “dark tourism” program aimed at peace, preventing the risk of war and conflict, and overcoming the consequences of war; and (iv) application of scientific and technological achievements in “dark tourism” activities.

Call it the curse, the myth, the legend, the dacoits, the flora and fauna, the River, and the valley remains untouched and pristine and is home to many endemic species and is blessed with stark but beautiful landscape, the surreal world of an era gone by, the ravage of the ravines, which have been preserved, protected, and conserved, albeit for the ‘ancient curses,’ and yes being a home to the ‘dreaded outlaws’ and ‘modern dacoits.’ Whether it was the fear for one’s life considering it was a dacoit area or also known as ‘gun powder area,’ or the curses that none wanted to garner to themselves, Chambal is slowly but steadily ebbing out of the dark shadows that it once was. The river itself passes through Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, before joining the river Yamuna. Declared a Protected Area (PA) in 1978, the nomenclature of dark tourism will be ubiquitous to the Chambal River valley, considering that the area is dotted by a multitude of forts, and heritage destinations, that have frozen in the sands of time; either on account of the stories that meander, as the river does, with its deep ravines, ravines that invite the adventurer. It is the last bastion for the nation’s endangered wildlife, viz., Gharial, Maggar, Turtles, Otter, and the fresh water Dolphin, which has encouraged the Government to get the local community to be part of the special purpose vehicle promoting tourism. The authors known for their contribution to community-based ecotourism (CBE) have visited the Chambal area and worked with the communities and bureaucracy to ensure conclusions.

Dark tourism is one of the tourism types that have developed in line with the expectations of tourists in recent years. One of the special interest tourism types, dark tourism is based on fears such as pain, fear, and sadness. From this point of view, dark tourism destinations include battlefields, execution scenes, areas where death is experienced firsthand, centers with horror themes, and regions where natural and technological disasters occur. The centers where dark tourism takes place are quite different from the centers where other types of tourism take place. Thus, there is also diversity in the tourist type. Among the travel motivations of Dark tourists are reasons such as experiencing the moment of death, feeling fear, respecting the past, and obtaining information. With the advancement of technology, the reach of dark tourism to tourists has also accelerated. Today, dark tourism destinations reach large masses by using various marketing strategies. With this information, the aim of this study is to examine marketing strategies within the scope of dark tourism. Within the scope of this examination, social media will be emphasized. Social media accounts of destinations based on dark tourism will be examined and data will be analyzed through content analysis. Thus, it is aimed to have a rich section within the scope of dark tourism and social media.

Over the past 50 years, dark tourism has seen exponential growth in terms of both physical and digital contexts. Dark tourism is primarily a concentration around documented accounts of physical violence, and theorizations centered on dark tourism studies have generally fallen within either behavioral or interpretivist perspectives. Such perspectives are indicative of the continually evolving nature of dark tourism and its receptiveness to new definitions, conceptual frameworks, and theorizations. Taking this into consideration, this chapter seeks to develop and broaden the notion of “dark tourism” within the era of late capitalism by presenting fresh theoretical perspectives stemming from critical criminological frameworks. Specifically, in drawing upon critical notions of violence and the emerging deviant leisure framework, this chapter will aim to instigate fresh academic enquiry into the nature of dark tourism, expand its theoretical underpinnings, and subsequently provide a means in which to examine how banal forms of tourism play an integral part in the proliferation of some of the most serious harms that populate the contemporary neoliberal landscape.

Dark tourism is a place for tourists to travel to understand the deaths, suffering, and tragedy. Nowadays, movie makers have positioned dark tourism as a source of edutainment for society, contributing to the marketing of dark places. This type of education helps children to make associations between museum artifacts, memories, battles, and visitors’ lives. This study explores how movies have put forth on dark tourism and edutainment by involving audiences, especially students, through storytelling techniques. This research analyses the content of the Bollywood movie Bawaal (2023), which was based on education from the sites of World War II, a holocaust in Europe. Movies can improve students’ and children’s interest in history. There is a need to understand how movies are closely linked to dark tourism. The result shows that explaining dark tourist places is essential for the upcoming generation to maintain their connection with the world’s history. This study will spread consciousness about World War II or Holocaust places and help indirectly market dark tourism.

Visits to locations connected to historical atrocities, tragedy, suffering, or presumably dreadful events are referred to as “dark tourism”. While Bangladesh may not be widely known for dark tourism, several unexplored avenues may be of interest to those who engage in this type of unique and unconventional tourism experience. In addition to creating job opportunities and income generation in Bangladesh, it can achieve educational objectives, communicate with a broad audience, raise awareness of events of the past, and quench people's thirst for information, which can help them to comprehend a society. Though Bangladesh has several somber locations connected to tragic events including World War II, liberation war sites, mass killing sites, shipbreaking yards, Rohingya refugee camps, riots, and the mother language movement, traditional tourism predominates there. If managed responsibly, these varied resources, somber locations, and histories, some of which date back to 1800, could make Bangladesh a dark tourism destination. Although dark tourism in Bangladesh has the potential to contribute to historical awareness, preservation, educational opportunities, and socioeconomic development, it is yet unexplored due to a lack of knowledge, experience, policy, effective marketing, and some controversies. By approaching responsibly, Bangladesh can leverage its history to attract visitors' interests in exploring the darker aspects of the country's past. Hence, this chapter is designed to explore the status and potential significance, prospects, and challenges of dark tourism in Bangladesh. The findings will help policymakers, tourists, and other stakeholders to explore and enjoy enormous benefits from Bangladesh's untapped dark tourism opportunities.

Dark tourism, a phenomenon encompassing visits to sites associated with death, suffering, and historical atrocities, has gained increasing scholarly attention in recent years. This chapter explores the concept's historical roots, motivations for engagement, and its transformative impact on heritage sites, culminating in a case study of the Malcha Mahal Haunted Heritage Walks in Delhi. Despite being abandoned for centuries, this historic site gained prominence with the occupation by the self-proclaimed royal family of Oudh in the 1980s. The introduction of the Haunted Heritage Walk by Delhi Tourism aimed to harness the dark tourism potential of this previously neglected monument. However, initial challenges such as deteriorating conditions and safety concerns necessitated collaborative efforts with government departments for conservation and site preparation. Interviews with visitors revealed diverse motivations for attendance, ranging from thrill-seeking to appreciation of the monument's historical significance. Since the walk's inception, conservation efforts have commenced, accompanied by landscaping initiatives and amenities for visitors. While the future conservation and tranquility of Malcha Mahal remain uncertain amid increasing tourist interest, its transformation into an alternative destination within Delhi underscores the potential of dark tourism to revitalize neglected heritage sites. Sustainable tourism planning is essential to preserve the monument's unique features and manage tourism while maintaining its integrity for future generations.

Dark tourism is a new coinage rooted in the perception of tourism activities at the sites or destinations connected to phenomena that bear varied, flexible, dynamic, diverse, and graded dark shades of life and civilization. It is now customary to subsume it within the sets of niche tourism. Some dark tourism sites attract visitors and generate sizable amounts of revenue, yet most of the world does not register much demand compared to other niches. Accordingly, promotion pursuit turned crucial to draw the market’s attention, creating its competitively distinct position.

Indeed, inherent issues, such as conceptual multiplicity within nature, aspect, attribute, and product paradigm, turn dark tourism into a complex phenomenon and put a challenge toward creating its distinct market position. Additionally, contradictions in semantic and functional significances, conflicts in framing morbid memory and authentic portrayal, variances in ethical, cultural and ideological interpretations, transition of liminal space identity, and diverse focuses in stakeholder engagement in imaging impede efforts to transform dark tourism attractions into a significant driver of tourism.

This chapter will locate and address the issues that challenge the marketability of dark attractions and dark tourism promotion more directly, with attention to the Indian context.

Exploring historically significant and often eerie locations, dark tourism has surged in popularity lately. With advancing technology, online platforms have become influential tools that amplify the dark tourism encounter. This research delves into how online platforms contribute to enriching the dark tourism experience. It addresses the effective utilization of online media to improve exploration, understanding, and engagement with dark tourism destinations.

The research questions focus on how online platforms enhance exploration and interpretation, their impacts on visitor understanding and emotional engagement, and their facilitation of community engagement and knowledge sharing within dark tourism.

Employing a mixed-methods access, in addition to literature review, qualitative interviews, and quantitative surveys, the study adopts a theoretical framework integrating destination management, digital marketing, and visitor experience theories.

This empirical study adds to the existing literature on how online platforms influence dark tourism, providing practical insights for destination managers and platform developers to enhance visitor experiences and engagement at dark tourism destinations.

Tourism often conjures notions of relaxation, joy, and pleasure. The tourism industry caters to providing leisure experiences to people, whose preferences have evolved significantly over time. With a shift toward alternative tourism rather than traditional mass travel, the emergence of Niche Tourism becomes pivotal. While India has made strides in niche tourism, one particular facet remains unexplored: Dark Tourism. This form of tourism has gained immense popularity globally in the 21st century. As tourist preferences evolve and the concept of special interest tourism takes root, policymakers in the tourism sector worldwide are compelled to include this segment in their strategies. Several nations, previously impacted by conflict or lacking in tourism infrastructure, have embraced dark tourism to gain a competitive edge in attracting visitors. India's tourism industry has yet to delve into offering dark tourism as a product. A successful product hinges on customers' perceptions of its ability to meet their expectations. Without awareness among potential customers, even the most exceptional product can falter. This chapter aims to explore the potential of dark tourism in India by gauging the public perception of this form of tourism. It will also address potential challenges in developing dark tourism in India and propose recommendations to foster the growth of this tourism segment.

The tourism business is seeing a major boom worldwide, especially in India, where there has been a noticeable rise in visitors to destinations related to dark tourism. This subset of tourism in general involves travel to locations associated with death, tragedy, or melancholy. The purpose of this study is to investigate the psychological facets of human nature that contribute to the rising popularity of dark tourism. In particular, it aims to clarify the behavioral goals, cues, and incentives that lead tourists to investigate sites with tumultuous histories. This study chronicles visitors' experiences using a narrative inquiry technique, looking at how their emotions change before, during, and after participating in dark tourism. Interviews with people who have taken part in these excursions provide primary data. Findings imply that people frequently engage in dark tourism because of curiosity, a desire for thrills, emotional triggers, or memories of previous experiences. This study indicates that there are dynamic changes in the feelings of tourists as they travel, ranging from mildly curious at first to finally accepting bad energy and feeling satisfied after the trip is over. This study advances our understanding of the psychological and emotional factors that lead people to engage in gloomy tourism, which involves visiting sites associated with past tragedies and ills. The study's conclusion, which shed light on the changing tourist tastes and motives, have both academic and practical consequences for tourism management, marketing tactics, and the hospitality industry as a whole.