Dark Tourism

The purpose of this study is not to recite instances of dark tourism; rather, it is an

attempt to examine what motivates visitors to visit these places. From the figures above,

we can discern that dark tourism sites are sought-after destinations. This statement is

furthered by the works of Foley and Lennon (1996 and 1997) who discuss that, “…there

has been significant growth in tourism associated with sites of death, disaster, and

depravity” (Lennon and Foley 1999:46). Smith found in her research on war and

tourism that, “…despite the horrors of death and destruction (and also because of them),

the memorabilia of warfare and allied products…probably constitutes the largest single

category of tourist attractions in the world” (1996:248). Due to the sheer volume of

visitors and the nature of many of these sites, it is therefore vital to understand what

motivates people to visit places of dark tourism.

However, visitor motivations to such sites remain yet undefined. The literature is

fragmented and no composite understanding of why visitors visit these sites has been

catalogued. Hence, the purpose of this research