dark tourism

Dark Tourism is associated with death and tragedy. It is hard to visualize the relation between tourism, which is identified as pleasant activity, and death. Dark Tourism existed long time, but recently it has been few reseach about it. There are few reseach indicted what is tourism and what motivate tourist to visit dark sits.

Tourist motivation, the question of why they chose this destination than other destinations, is hard to identify compared to the study of whom, when and where. Beech (2000, p. 40) states, ‘the motivation of tourists visiting sites where “heritage hurts” is difficult to classify and makes an unrealistic assumption that all persons who visit are tourists indulging a leisure activity’ cited by Selmi & Tur (2012). However, Stone and Sharpley (2008) cited that the motivation of visiting dark sites have not yet been fully investigated, only generating weak conceptualization of this phenomenon cited by Biran, & Poria (2011).

Nowadays, death is visualized everywhere through news, movies, video games and so on. Death is an old concept has been with human since the beginning of life, which was related to tragedy but now is considered one of the tourism types that tourist seek their enjoyment though visiting death sites. Dark tourism was classified by Timothy and Boyd (2006), as one of the new movements in heritage tourism, and as one of the most important types of tourism attractions cited by Selmi, & Tur,(2012). There are many studies proved that the high number of tourists visiting sites of death, disaster and atrocities (Stone and Sharpley, 2008) cited by Selmi, & Tur,(2012. The purpose of this paper is to identify and examines the motivations that influence number of tourist to visit a dark site more...

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...l component which means that together four motivation dimensions affect on the tourist at the same time: personal escape, personal seeking, interpersonal escape, interpersonal seeking.

Thrill was defined as an experience in which excitement is the essential element while adventure was defined as an exciting experience created through the medium of a strange, dangerous, and unusual happening, or as an undertaking involving unknown risks Yuill, S. ,(2006)Boredom is often part of the human condition, especially in developed and modern societies where so much of life is reduced to organized routine. Yuill, S. ,(2006) He use of a variety of terms, such as curiosity drive (Fowler 1967), novelty seeking.

Hypotheses #2 The level of novelty seeking determines the of traveling choice of a dark site.

DV: Novelty seeking

IV: determines the choice of traveling to dark site