Motivation Factors in Dark Tourism
Motivation Factors in Dark Tourism
Case: House of Terror
LAHTI UNIVERSITY OF
APPLIED SCIENCES
The Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality
Degree Programme in Tourism and
Hospitality Management
Nature and Soft Adventure Tourism
Bachelor’s thesis
Spring 2010
Titta Niemelä Lahti University of Applied Sciences
Degree Programme in Tourism and Hospitality Management
NIEMELÄ, TITTA: Motivation Factors in Dark Tourism:
Case: House of Terror
Bachelor’s Thesis in Nature and Soft Adventure Tourism, 43 pages, 6 appendices
Spring 2010
ABSTRACT
Dark tourism is a multi-layered mixture of history and heritage, tourism and tragedies. Humanity has been interested in the end of life since the time of pilgrimages.
In contemporary society the individual has been isolated from the end of life and even discussing it is considered taboo. Why do people travel to dark attractions associated with death and suffering if even talking about them is so hard?
The House of Terror museum in Budapest, Hungary, is a good example of a dark tourism attraction. It stands as a monument to the memory of those held captive, tortured and killed in the building under the Nazi and the Communist reigns during and after the Second World War. Opened on February 24th in 2002, the museum reveals the horrors of the two cruellest systems of the 20th century with the purpose to draw people's attention to understanding the sacrifice for the freedom in Hungary – and giving the visitor a possibility to contemplate the balance of life and death.
The core of this study is to find out which factors motivate tourists to travel to dark tourism attractions and, especially, to visit the House of Terror museum. The theoretical context will present the definitions of tourism with its subgroups and, more specifically, dark tourism. Motivation in tourism will be also discussed. The functional part of this thesis includes designing and implementing a customer questionnaire for the House of Terror museum.
Dark
Case: House of Terror
LAHTI UNIVERSITY OF
APPLIED SCIENCES
The Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality
Degree Programme in Tourism and
Hospitality Management
Nature and Soft Adventure Tourism
Bachelor’s thesis
Spring 2010
Titta Niemelä Lahti University of Applied Sciences
Degree Programme in Tourism and Hospitality Management
NIEMELÄ, TITTA: Motivation Factors in Dark Tourism:
Case: House of Terror
Bachelor’s Thesis in Nature and Soft Adventure Tourism, 43 pages, 6 appendices
Spring 2010
ABSTRACT
Dark tourism is a multi-layered mixture of history and heritage, tourism and tragedies. Humanity has been interested in the end of life since the time of pilgrimages.
In contemporary society the individual has been isolated from the end of life and even discussing it is considered taboo. Why do people travel to dark attractions associated with death and suffering if even talking about them is so hard?
The House of Terror museum in Budapest, Hungary, is a good example of a dark tourism attraction. It stands as a monument to the memory of those held captive, tortured and killed in the building under the Nazi and the Communist reigns during and after the Second World War. Opened on February 24th in 2002, the museum reveals the horrors of the two cruellest systems of the 20th century with the purpose to draw people's attention to understanding the sacrifice for the freedom in Hungary – and giving the visitor a possibility to contemplate the balance of life and death.
The core of this study is to find out which factors motivate tourists to travel to dark tourism attractions and, especially, to visit the House of Terror museum. The theoretical context will present the definitions of tourism with its subgroups and, more specifically, dark tourism. Motivation in tourism will be also discussed. The functional part of this thesis includes designing and implementing a customer questionnaire for the House of Terror museum.
Dark
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