Dark tourism – visitation, understanding and education; a reconciliation of theory and practice?

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to profile the Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes (WHATT) theme issue “Dark tourism – visitation, understanding and education; a reconciliation of theory and practice?” by drawing on reflections from the theme editor and theme issue outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses structured questions to enable the theme editor to reflect on the rationale for the theme issue question and the outcomes.

Findings

It was observed that visitors to dark tourism sites are often motivated by respect and remembrance and that this motivation is frequently reported by the practitioners who manage these sites.

Practical implications

The paper presents dark tourism site educational guidelines for practitioners.

Originality/value

This paper provides a rich array of insights from practitioners involved in managing museums and related educational programmes, conceptual development and applied academic research.

Citation

Lennon, J.J. and Teare, R. (2017), "Dark tourism – visitation, understanding and education; a reconciliation of theory and practice?", Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 245-248. https://doi.org/10.1108/WHATT-01-2017-0002