Dark tourism revisited: a supply/demand conceptualisation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to advance the conceptualisation of dark tourism by evaluating both the supply‐side drivers for dark tourism development and the demand‐side motivations for visiting two dark heritage sites in Cyprus. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory research approach was adopted whereby 12 semi‐structured interviews were conducted with supply‐side stakeholders and two focus groups were conducted with local and foreign visitors. Findings Production and consumption of dark tourism is continuous and interrelated as demand appears to be supply‐driven and attraction‐based. Tourist interpretations of dark tourism are influenced by tourists' personal factors, the passage of “time” and the way the dark site is projected by the supply‐side. A refined marketing segmentation strategy is proposed taking into consideration the purpose of visit, the relevance of the dark heritage site to the tourist and the depth of the dark element. Originality/value The study's focus is narrow but the findings provide theoretical and practical insights into the conceptualisation dark tourism by considering supply and demand aspects and the related influencing factors. In doing so understanding of the phenomenon is enhanced.