Tourist’s destination image, place dimensions, and engagement: the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and dark tourism

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Young Hoon Kim ◽  
Nelson A. Barber
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stella Kladou ◽  
Maria Psimouli ◽  
Georgios Skourtis ◽  
Antonios Giannopoulos ◽  
Nilgün Handan Eskitark

Dark tourism is one of those tourism types that currently attracts growing interest and varying interpretations. The present study aims to determine the importance of specific dark tourism motives (namely those relevant to war and terrorism) for dark tourism development, taking destination and country image into consideration. The research was carried out in the context of Turkey, a developing country, which exhibits dark tourism potential in relation to the motives explored. An explanatory quantitative approach was followed. The results reveal the importance of motivations, previous experience, intention to visit and the significance of different tourism types according to destination image in a tourism context. The findings shed light on aspects that can drive dark tourism development, without falling into the fallacy of prioritizing a “better mousetrap (dark tourism site) that nobody will want”.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lili Qian ◽  
Chunhui Zheng ◽  
Jinwei Wang ◽  
María de los Ángeles Pérez Sánchez ◽  
Eduardo Parra López ◽  
...  

Purpose This study aims to explore how tourists construct destination images in the context of dark tourism and reveals the relationships between on-site experience, destination image and behavioural intention. Design/methodology/approach The earthquake-ravaged county town of Beichuan in China was chosen as the study site. The study collected 298 viable questionnaires from tourists. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was performed to explore the relationships between the variables of on-site experience, destination image and behavioural intention. Findings The study identified four dimensions of dark tourism destination image (TDI) from its attribute and functional perspective. It found that “image of memorial place” and “image of educational place” were the most perceptual images and positively related with most subdimensions of on-site experience and behavioural intention. “Image of leisure place” and “image of landscapes of fear” were less perceived by tourists and negatively related with some subdimensions of on-site experience and behavioural intention. Originality/value To our knowledge, this study is the first attempt to explore the complex mechanisms of dark TDI formation with the framework of “on-site experiences–destination images–behavioural intentions”. By identifying tourists’ most and least perceptual images and their effective antecedents and consequences help to reconcile and manage the controversial and contradictory images of a dark tourism destination.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
DeMond Shondell Miller ◽  
Christopher Gonzalez ◽  
Mark Hutter

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the knowledge gap in the field of dark tourism by understanding the phenomena of phoenix tourism, which focuses on the transformation and rebirth of places following death and disasters. Design/methodology/approach The paper builds on existing theoretical understanding of dark tourism and disaster recovery to explore destination image recovery within the tourism industry. It uses phoenix tourism as a lens to understand the social, cultural and economic context of post-disaster tourism destination recovery and rebranding in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. Findings A presentation of post-disaster strategies and recommendations are given with attention to the re-branding of images once associated with death and darkness to enhance a destination’s resilience. Practical Implications For local policymakers, tourism leaders, researchers and community developers, this research describes strategies that facilitate rebranding dark tourism sites, such as areas of rebirth or “phoenix tourism”, to enhance destination recovery image and to promote a more disaster- and risk-resilient tourism industry. Originality/value This paper bridges the knowledge gap by defining and contributing to the theoretical understanding of phoenix tourism as it identifies the what, how and why elements of the phenomena of phoenix tourism. Furthermore, the authors propose how to overcome negative destination images to preserve, present or redefine an image of a tourist destination “overcoming”, and eventual “rebirth” serves to re-calibrate resilience of the tourism industry and regional redevelopment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-84
Author(s):  
Phuong M. Ngo ◽  
Huong T. Bui

The legacy of the Vietnam War associates Vietnam with being a destination for dark tourism. Located in the central Vietnam, Quang Tri, the former Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) has high density of historical sites left from the Vietnam War. Visitation to the war-related sites for commemoration and secular pilgrimage is among the top motivations for tourists arriving in the city. The current research seeks to investigate the mediating roles of on-site guides at the historical sites of Quang Tri. By observing on-site tour guide performance, analysing their narratives and conducting interviews with guides working at monuments and historical sites, and reflection of tourists visiting the sites, the authors provide a unique perspective of guiding at contested war heritage, where on-site guides perform multiple mediating roles. The findings of the study highlight the need to reappraise the role of on-site guides and have implications for the planning and development of guiding services at historic sites.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1489-1489
Author(s):  
Huang Li ◽  
◽  
Jerome Yen ◽  
Matthew Tingchi Liu ◽  
Ziying Mo

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