Dark Tourism
ATLAS Special Interest Group
Dark Tourism
Coordinator:
Konstantina Zerva – University of Girona, Spain
Dark tourism as a subset of heritage tourism (Mionel, 2019) represents ‘the act of travel to sites associated with death, suffering and the seemingly macabre’ (Stone, 2006, p. 146), disguised under similar terms such as favela tourism (Robb, 2009), prison tourism (Strange & Kempa, 2003), slum tourism (Frenzel & Koens, 2012), post-disaster tourism (Martini & Buda, 2018), or paranormal tourism (Pharino, Pearce, & Pryce, 2018), to name a few. It represents a tourism typology that has been the subject of significant debate since its inception due to its moral standing in society (Seaton 2009; Stone, 2009; Stone & Sharpley, 2014), the conversion of suffering spaces into theme parks, and the general public display of death and darkness as tourist attractions. On the other hand, it has been used as a peace paradigm between North and South Korea (Lee, Lawerence, Bendle, & Kim, 2011), or as a commodification of remembrance, reintroducing death to the public eye and neutralizing it on a social level (Sharpley & Stone, 2009). This indicates that dark tourism, as any form of expression, enhances meaning based on the motivations of the people who practice it. On that level, many studies have been conducted to understand the motivational spectrum of dark tourists (Gillen, 2018; Iliev, 2020; Le & Pearce, 2011; Light, 2017; Stone, 2006), the typology of places they can visit ranging from real dark experiences to simulations (Jamal & Lelo, 2011; Stone, 2013), the role of intermediators and guides within a dark experience (Zerva, 2021), and the impact of entertainment media from the point of demand creation, for example the popular HBO series Chernobyl, to the enjoyment of the experience itself through virtual reality (Handayani and Korstanje, 2018). In summary, the role of dark tourism in recent times involves a complex interplay of reflection, education, economic considerations, and ethical concerns. As the world navigates through the aftermath of significant events, the way dark tourism is perceived and engaged with may continue to evolve.
Under this scope, this Special Interest Group’s main objectives are:
- Foster collaboration among researchers and scholars interested in dark tourism by facilitating joint research projects, interdisciplinary studies, and information sharing.
- Encourage co-authored publications and research papers among members.
- Facilitate international exchange and cooperation to promote a global perspective on dark tourism and encourage cross-cultural understanding.
- Organize academic conferences, workshops and webinars that focus on dark tourism research and provide a space for idea exchange, discussion, and debate.
- Encourage student involvement and interest in dark tourism by offering mentorship programs for students pursuing research in the field.
ATLAS SIG Soundbite 15 – Dark Tourism
In the ATLAS SIG Soundbites series the different ATLAS Special Interest Groups tell about their SIG.
Annual review of activities – 2026
Here are the activities of the Dark Tourism SIG during the last year:
In the previous ATLAS Conference in Vilaseca, Spain, a successful Special Track was presented with the collaboration with the Volunteer Tourism SIG, under the name “Understanding Dark Tourism and Volunteer Tourism in times of transition”.
After various meetings with the coordinators of the Volunteer Tourism SIG, Orphanage Tourism SIG, and Heritage and Education Tourism SIG, we conjointly organized on March 2026 a webinar named “Consuming Lives, Consuming Places: A Debate on the Shadows of Travel” with presenters invited from the academic and professional field and the online participation in the audience of more than 100 people.
For the upcoming ATLAS Conference in Leeds, the Dark Tourism SIG, along with the Heritage and Education SIG, has organized a Special Track named “From Dissonance to Design: Ethics, Evidence, and Care across Dark & Heritage Sites”, inviting contributions which showcase conceptual, methodological and empirical advances to understand the relation between heritage, tourism and dark times.