Progress and prospects for dark tourism research

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper aims to identify the co-authors of dark tourism, influential articles and journals, hot topics, research deficiencies and future research directions. Based on the literature records from 2002 to 2022 in the core database of Web of Science, a comprehensive review of dark tourism research is conducted. The results show that the number of publications on dark tourism is on the rise. The United Kingdom, the United States, China (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), Australia and the Netherlands are the major contributors to the study of dark tourism. Hot research topics mainly include: the motivation of tourists to participate in dark tourism, the experience of tourists to participate in dark tourism, the influence of dark tourism and the management of dark tourism destinations. Future studies can pay more attention to the basic theories of dark tourism and its positive effects, and focus more on the psychology and behavior of special dark tourism groups.