Highgate Cemetery: A Research Project on Motivations in Dark Tourism

This research project investigates the motivations driving interest in dark tourism, with a specific focus on Highgate Cemetery in London. The study employs surveys and statistical analysis to examine the relationship between demographic factors such as age, employment status, and relationship status, and the frequency of visits to dark tourism sites. Key findings suggest that age is a significant factor, with mid-aged individuals showing the most interest in dark tourism, while younger individuals (18-24) are less likely to visit such sites. The research also explores the factors that appeal to visitors, such as curiosity, historical interest, and the desire for unique experiences, and provides recommendations for managing and promoting dark tourism destinations responsibly. Desklib offers a wide range of study tools and resources to help students understand complex topics like dark tourism and excel in their studies.

Running head: TRAVEL AND TOURISM RESEARCH PROJECT
Travel and Tourism Research Project
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

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Executive Summary
The discourse of the study identifies the different perspectives of relations for interest in dark
tourism in Highgate Cemetery, London. The study will be able to identify the main
factors/motivators for individuals visiting places associated to dark tourism. The significant
responses of the individuals have been considered both in general perspectives and Highgate
Cemetery. The main findings show higher is the age of an individual lower will be the
probability of visiting places associated to dark tourism. On contrary to this, respondents
belonging to the age group of “18-24” years, will never visit the cemetery. The most prominent
age of the individuals opting for dark tourism is seen among the age groups of respondents who
are mid aged. Some of the different types of other aspects of the study has been able to show that
he age, employment status, and the relationship status are not responsible to affect the motivation
of appealing attributes for visiting the dark tourism places.

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Table of Contents
List of Tables...................................................................................................................................3
List of Figures..................................................................................................................................4
1. Title..............................................................................................................................................5
2. Terms of Reference......................................................................................................................6
2.1 Rationale of the Research......................................................................................................6
2.2 Research aim and objectives..................................................................................................7
Research Aim...............................................................................................................................7
Research Objectives.....................................................................................................................7
2.3 Research Questions................................................................................................................7
2.4 Research Hypotheses.............................................................................................................7
2.5 Literature Review..................................................................................................................8
3.1 Introduction to Data Collection and Analysis.....................................................................11
3.2 Data Sampling Method........................................................................................................12
3.4 Data collection Method........................................................................................................13
3.4 Data Analysis Method.........................................................................................................13
4. Findings.....................................................................................................................................14
4.1 Analysis of Hypothesis 1.....................................................................................................29
4.2 Analysis of Hypothesis 2.....................................................................................................29
5. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................34
6. Recommendations......................................................................................................................36
References......................................................................................................................................38

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List of Tables
Table 1:Response for age of the research subjects........................................................................13
Table 2:Response for employment status......................................................................................14
Table 3:Response for marital status...............................................................................................16
Table 4: Frequency of visiting places associated to death and tragedy.........................................17
Table 5: Dark Tourism place which the respondents would like to visit in London.....................19
Table 6: Interest of revisiting a dark tourism place in London......................................................20
Table 7: Factors appealing for dark tourism..................................................................................22
Table 8:Frequency of visiting high gate cemetery........................................................................23
Table 9:Response for motivating factors for revisiting Highgate cemetery..................................24
Table 10: Expectation of the individuals in visiting Highgate Cemetery......................................26
Table 11:Regression analysis for motivating factor for dark tourism attraction dependency on
age, employment status, and relationship status............................................................................28
Table 12: Coefficients for motivating factors behind dark tourism attraction is dependent on age,
employment status, and relationship status...................................................................................29

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List of Figures
Figure 1:Response for age of the respondents...............................................................................14
Figure 2:Employment status of the research subjects....................................................................15
Figure 3: Relationship status of the respondents...........................................................................16
Figure 4: Frequency of visiting places associated with death and tragedy....................................18
Figure 5: Dark Tourism place which the respondents would like to visit in London...................19
Figure 6: Interest of revisiting a dark tourism place in London....................................................21
Figure 7: Interest of revisiting a dark tourism place in London....................................................22
Figure 8:Frequency of visiting high gate cemetery.......................................................................24
Figure 9: Factors motivating for revisiting Highgate cemetery.....................................................25
Figure 10: Expectation of the individuals in visiting Highgate Cemetery....................................26
Figure 11: Residual plot for responses of the age variables..........................................................30
Figure 12: Residual plot for the relationship status.......................................................................30
Figure 13:Residual plot for employment status.............................................................................31
Figure 14: Residual plot for normal probability plot.....................................................................31

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1. Title
Tourism is recognised as a complex phenomenon which takes into account wide range of
people who are seeking unique experiences in order to satisfy their diverse motives. This is
considered as the reason for why world tourism is changing in the last decades. The motivation
for the tourists is no longer found with traditional destinations such as beautiful sceneries, sun
and beaches. The conceptualisation of pleasant diversification is changing and broadening into a
new market which demands a more complex and unusual desires. This is evident in case of dark
tourism which includes consumption and presentation of both co modified and real sites
associated to disaster (Dunkley, 2016).
The concept of dark tourism refers to visiting places which are related to death and
tragedy. Therefore, in a more specific way dark tourism can be regarded as visiting places in
which tragedies are historically noteworthy that has taken place which may continue to impact
on our lives. Thanatos is related to travelling to a place which is derived by the desire for
symbolic or actual encounter of death. It is further suggested that the use of Greek word
Thanatos is used fewer in context than grief tourism and dark tourism. Nonetheless, the act of
travelling to search site is itself macabre (Buda, 2015). The curiosity of visiting places associated
to death is not a new concept, there has been always a fascination present in the human nature
which relates to the darkest side. The demand for the places and experiences related to death are
often resembled from the middle age and Romantic period which were often found with
pilgrimage or religious purposes (Elliot, 2014).
As discussed by Ashworth & Isaac, (2015) in the past, there are several initiatives which
has examined the concept of dark tourism which is related to different places of history such as

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gladiator games in colosseum, ancient death setting in catacombs and places of public executions
by decapitation. In addition to this, the previous studies also considered dark tourism as a leisure
activity and media provided easy access to such content with photographs, films and news
associated to accidents and tragedies. The present studies associated to this topic aims to find the
broad range of factors which are related to the rational for the individuals in visiting such places
(Botterill, 2015). The research study aims to find the different perspectives of relations for
interest in dark tourism in Highgate Cemetery, London. The study will be able to identify the
main factors/motivators for individuals visiting places associated to dark tourism. The significant
responses of the individuals have been considered both in general perspectives and Highgate
Cemetery (Powell, Kennell, & Barton, 2018).
2. Terms of Reference
2.1 Rationale of the Research
As a tourism product- dark tourism started gaining popularity in the early 90s however
there has been no consensus to know about the motivating factors which are responsible for the
individuals in showing interest in such a tourism. Therefore, this study aims to understand the
relation of age and frequency of visitors in the Highgate Cemetery. Secondly, it also identifies
whether employment status and relationship status are also associated to motivating factors
behind people visiting to places of tragedy (Singh, 2014).

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2.2 Research aim and objectives
Research Aim
The research aims to identify the main factors for individual’s interest in dark tourism in general
and motivating factors for visiting Highgate Cemetery in London.
Research Objectives
 Depicting relationship of age and frequency of visiting Highgate Cemetery
 To know about the relationship of age, employment status, and relationship status for
attraction in dark tourism
 The death with the relationship status of an individual and its impact on frequency of
travelling places associated to dark tourism
2.3 Research Questions
RQ1. Does the frequency of travelling to dark places get affected by the relationship status of the
respondents?
RQ2. Does the age factor affect the frequency of visiting to Highgate Cemetery?
RQ3. Does the motivator for dark tourism depends on age, employment status, and relationship
status?
2.4 Research Hypotheses
RH1. The first set of hypotheses are
H0: Age does not affect the frequency of visiting Highgate Cemetery
H1: Age affects the frequency of visiting Highgate Cemetery

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RH2. The second set of hypotheses are
H02: The motivator behind dark tourism attraction is not dependent on age, employment status,
and relationship status
H2: The motivator behind dark tourism attraction is dependent on age, employment status, and
relationship status
2.5 Literature Review
As stated by Hooper, (2017) the universal term dark and incorporated with tourism is
often considered too broad which is not able to portray multilayer of dark tourism supply. The
presence of such a concept is widespread and diverse in nature. It is due to the diversity among
the sites for which various authors have felt the need of distinguishing shades of darkness among
the places based on their characteristics, product traits and perception. Therefore, dark tourism
supply is identified as differentiated as in some places death really occurred whereas others are
built intentionally to recreate those events. Several researchers have considered dark tourism
according to the degree of darkness, that is from the darkest to the lightest continuum (Roberts &
Stone, 2014). In this context, the different types of dark tourism suppliers as per Seaton are
discussed as follows:
Dark fun factories
These are often considered as an attraction to the visitors focused with entertainment and
commercial ethics. These are represented with macabre events and fictional death and require a
high degree of tourism infrastructures. In this degree, the Dracula Park or London dungeon can

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be pointed as being the lightest form of the dark tourism places situated globally (Hartmann,
2018).
Dark Exhibitions
These are often considered as an attraction to the visitors focused with entertainment and
commercial ethics. These are represented with macabre events and fictional death and require a
high degree of tourism infrastructures. In this degree, the Dracula Park or London dungeon can
be pointed as being the lightest form of the dark tourism places situated globally (Hartmann,
2018).
Dark resting places
The potential products of dark resting place are particularly identified with Cemetery or
grave markers. The previous research associated to this topic has been able to state that more and
more number of tourists show their interests in Cemetery tour every year (Rodríguez, 2014).
Those relating to large dimension are often recognised with true open-air museums which
include significant level of architectural work and sculptures which depicts refined taste.
According to many researchers in the list of most visited Cemetery some of the honourable
mentions include “Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise, the Arlington National cemetery”, “La Recoleta
cemetery” and many others (Topsakal & Ekici, 2014).
Dark shrines
These are referred places showing remembrance and respect to the individuals who have
recently deceased. Dark shrines are particularly considered as non-purposeful for tourism and do

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not consist of any significant tourism infrastructure pertaining to their temporal nature. The most
evident form of dark shine can be regarded as Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon isles
(Collins-Kreiner, 2016).
Dark conflict sites
These are considered as sights which are related to battlefield and war. These are often
depicted with educational, history and commemorative focus. Several previous journal articles
show that Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon isles is a very well identified dark conflict site
(Chang, 2014).
Dark camps of genocide
These camps are often identified with marks of atrocity or death. At present, the tourist
attraction at a global level associated with war and genocides are seen to constitute as one of the
largest categories among many other tourist destinations. Some of the most eminent examples for
this include Auschwitz- Birkenau, Cambodja and Rwanda in which mass atrocities and
genocides have occurred in the past. The attractions behind such dark sites is able to switch
between the darkest black and lightest black as the darkest black is associated to the place where
death have actually occurred which uses less tourism infrastructure (Podoshen et al., 2015). On
the other hand, the light black dark tourism is concerned with places where death has been
recreated therefore calls for higher requirement of tourism infrastructure for attracting the
tourists (Kim & Butler, 2014).
As opposed the darkest lightest framework, the continuum is often referred with different levels
of contact with the dark tourism sites. The main goal of several dark camps of genocide often
bears the purpose of educating the others about any incidence, symbolising the genocide of mass

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genocide. For instance, Auschwitz can be regarded as most dark destination in the world, as
these as symbolised the genocide of several Jews (Fonseca, Seabra, & Silva, 2015).
Voyerism
According to scholars, the factors motivating dark tourism is often associated to
voyerism. This is related to fulfilling the desire to know about the forbidden. Despite of very few
evidences for people showing interest in such a phenomenon, it is also depicted that dark tourism
is often seen to be interesting to several visitors for learning about the past events (Korstanje &
George, 2015).
Ethics of travel to some spots
The ethical dimension pertaining to dark tourism is relevant factor instigating dark
tourism among the visitors. Proponents are seen to argue that anti-American sentiment may have
a decreasing impact on people to people contact which may even create a subversive effect
pertaining to dark tourism (Sharpley & Friedrich, 2016). In addition to this, there are many
proponents who also believe that exposure to the vote is enjoyed by people in the developed
world may soon be taken into consideration on ways of living. They model benefits from
calamities may be considered as an important driving factor behind dark tourism (Gregory J.
Ashworth & Tunbridge, 2016).
3. Procedure
3.1 Introduction to Data Collection and Analysis
The various aspects of research methodology are directly related to the topics discussed
in literature review. Therefore, the tool is selected for proceeding with the research is able to