Dark tourism or thanatourism is an emerging area of study in the Philippines. Accordingly, it involves visiting places associated with death and suffering. This study explored the dark tourism ...indicators and tourist motivations which were used as basis for the creation of the Philippine dark tourism spectrum. The different perspectives of dark tourism or thanatourism were examined to provide a better and deeper understanding of its nature as a form of tourism. In addition, attractions considered as dark in selected cities in Metro Manila were evaluated and identified to have a clear representation of the attributes of dark tourism attached in a particular site or destination. Using an exploratory-qualitative design, structured interviews, FGDs, observations, literature review, and photo elicitation have been conducted to gather pertinent data. Participants in the KII include historians, Department of Tourism (DOT) Officers, church leaders, and tourists; while in the FGDs were DOT accredited guides and tourism faculty members from different colleges and universities in Metro Manila. Content analysis was used in analyzing the data. The findings revealed that history, authenticity, storytelling, and experience are the indicators of dark tourism sites. Moreover, the identified dark sites are Chinese Cemetery, Intramuros, Libingan ng mga Bayani, Luneta Park, and Paco Park and Cemetery. These attractions are visited for educational purposes, remembrance, sightseeing, recreation, family bonding, curiosity, and event venue. The study contributed to the existing knowledge of thanatourism and dark tourism in the Philippines by identifying the indicators and tourist motivations that are very useful in destination planning and management, as well as marketing and promotion. Likewise, the created Philippine dark tourism spectrum provided a deeper perspective and understanding of the nature of dark tourism, which can be utilized by the tourism stakeholders and the academe in evaluating and classifying dark tourism sites in the country.
Tactile engagement is a critical aspect of tourist experiences. Embodied cognition theory suggests a direct correlation between physical sensations and psychological perceptions. For example, ...touching the textured stones at the Wailing Wall, a revered religious site in Jerusalem, can evoke intense emotions in tourists. This study explores the impact of rough tactile sensations on dark experiences through six studies. We used content analysis, on-site surveys, eye movement experiments, and scenario experiments to validate these effects. Our findings emphasize the pivotal role of rough tactile sensations in shaping profound emotions and individual experiences while uncovering alternative routes for developing sensory strategies to enrich dark tourism experiences.
Dark-light spectrum was used to express the depth of dark experience in dark tourism. Based on embodied cognition theory, this paper examined the visual expression of tourists' dark tourism ...experience. Five consecutive studies were conducted including analysis of tourists' photos in online reviews of 53 dark tourism destinations worldwide, charcoal pencil painting tasks of selected dark tourism sites in lab experiments, and field experiment. Results showed that tourists with darker experience tend to use deeper visual darkness to express their feelings, in the forms of painting and photographs, even when the cognitive process (i.e., expression in the form of words) is omitted. This psychological mechanism explains the scientific principle behind dark tourism spectrum. Our research suggests a new way of interpretation of tourist image data (e.g., photos) and sheds light for effective management of tourist experience.
This article focuses on the case study of Portugal ́s Bone Chapels, built within a temporal delimitation from the 17th century to the 19th century –as a potential Cultural Route.The nine examples ...that still standin the national territory, constitute a type of religious architecture that, due to their geographical location -all in the south of the territory, concentrate, in a joint articulated vision, a tourist potential as a Cultural Route, which will be explored in this investigation.For the majority of Portuguese examples, which constitute transformed spaces for cultural tourism purposes, some strategies will be proposed that these spaces may adopt toenhance their use in an aspect (cultural and heritage protection), which assumesincreasing importance in the world today. Accordingly, some digital educational products will be proposed, integrating, among others, the route,and audio guides for each of the Bone Chapels, to be made available in the properties and on the Cultural Routewebsite, in an articulated and networked strategy of the nine architectures.Finally, taking into account that the Bone Chapels constitute a type of religious architecture that is not exclusive to this country, we will present the geographic preponderanceof these cases on an international level, tounderstand the geographic scale of this cultural heritage. We willevaluatethe possibility of creating an international cultural route of these architectures, using as an example of success-theEuropean Cemeteries Route, one of the Council of Europe's Cultural Itineraries
Embodiment is a key under-researched component of dark tourism experiences. Qualitative and experimental methods were applied in four studies to reveal the bidirectional body–mind synchronization in ...dark tourism experiences. Taking the Chernobyl zone as a case, we first prove the mind-to-body pathway in which the dark experience exerts a measurable effect on the participants' sensory expression in photographs and sketches. We then discover the body-to-mind pathway in which the expressions of darkness can be decoded by others. Furthermore, this study illustrates how the different dark levels of the product photos on a website affect the potential tourists' feelings. This study expands the understanding of embodiment theory in dark tourism with implications for product design and marketing.
Display omitted
•The bidirectional body–mind synchronization is constructed in dark tourism.•Dark experience influences sensory expression in photographs and sketches.•The expressions of darkness can be decoded and correctly interpreted by others.•Different dark levels of photos affect the potential tourists' product evaluation.
This paper reviews academic research into dark tourism and thanatourism over the 1996–2016 period. The aims of this paper are threefold. First, it reviews the evolution of the concepts of dark ...tourism and thanatourism, highlighting similarities and differences between them. Second it evaluates progress in 6 key themes and debates. These are: issues of the definition and scope of the concepts; ethical issues associated with such forms of tourism; the political and ideological dimensions of dark tourism and thanatourism; the nature of demand for places of death and suffering; the management of such places; and the methods of research used for investigating such tourism. Third, research gaps and issues that demand fuller scrutiny are identified. The paper argues that two decades of research have not convincingly demonstrated that dark tourism and thanatourism are distinct forms of tourism, and in many ways they appear to be little different from heritage tourism.
•This paper reviews 2 decades of academic research into dark tourism and thanatourism.•It evaluates and critiques progress in six principle research themes.•It identifies future directions and challenges for research.•Clearly differentiating dark tourism and thanatourism from heritage tourism is problematic.
PurposeIn India, travellers are beginning to pay attention to dark tourism recently. This study aims to empirically investigate tourists revisit intention (TRI) to dark tourism destinations (DTD) in ...Indian urbanscapes. Here, a comprehensive moderated mediation method was applied to enhance TRI towards DTD via dark tourism motivational factors (DTMF). Understanding history, mass and social media and curiosity are the dimensions of DTMF.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through structured questionnaires from a sample of 360 tourists’ from various DTDs in city of Kolkata, India. A structural equation modelling method was applied to investigate the hypothesis.FindingsThe findings showed DTMF dimensions enhanced the revisit intention for DTD in the city. Tourist satisfaction (TS) in dark tourism mediates the effects of DTMF on revisit intention. The mediation effects of satisfaction are diverse among high- and low-involved tourists.Practical implicationsThe findings can be helpful for marketers, government and other stakeholders to make dark tourism products more feasible by identifying the DTMF, which further helps to promote dark tourism among the urban tourists.Originality/valueThis study shed light on the domain of dark tourism in urbanscapes in Kolkata, which was not previously explored. Furthermore, it suggests a moderated-mediated model for enhancing TRI to the DTD in the city, which involves TS as mediator and tourist involvement as moderator. Thus, this study enables an understanding of motivations for TRI in DTD.
► The descriptive approach to the conceptualization of dark tourism is challenged. ► Re-conceptualization of dark tourism should draw on the experiential approach. ► The perception of the death on ...display is at the core of the tourist experience. ► Dark sites host variety of experiences rather than a merely dark tourism one.
Current literature on dark tourism largely follows a supply perspective, almost ignoring the tourist experience. Focusing on Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp (here after Auschwitz), the epitome of dark tourism, the present study sheds light on the nature of this tourism experience by clarifying the relations between the symbolic meanings assigned to the site and core elements of the tourist experience (motivation and sought interpretation benefits). The findings suggest that Auschwitz hosts a heritage experience rather than a merely dark tourism one, and that alongside site attributes, tourists’ perceptions of the site should be considered in the conceptualization of the tourist experience. The findings challenge the current understanding of dark tourism as a distinct phenomenon to heritage tourism.
This conceptual article brings to the attention of tourism scholars new possibilities to theorize dark tourism as an affective socio-spatial encounter. To do so, we frame dark tourism within theories ...of affect and, in particular, geographies of affect. We show how debates around dark tourism terminology and taxonomies, in most cases underlie considerations on felt, affective aspects of the dark tourism experience. We critically debate the concept of affect, the distinctions between affects and emotions, and the complex issue of representability of affect. Our perspective is underpinned by a necessity to consider the context and limitations that frame the affective experience of the tourist and the resulting encounters. This offers a deeper layer of understanding tourists' experiences in death and disaster places as well as the political and ethical charge imbued in such encounters.
PDF
