Dark tourism, the holocaust and wellbeing

Resumo

This thesis aims at investigating what drives tourists to visit Holocaust-related places and how it affects their wellbeing. More specifically, the thesis addresses the research questions: (i) Is feeling wellbeing, as a consequence of the Holocaust dark tourism, a way of banalizing the horror in Dark tourism, the Holocaust, and Wellbeing: A Systematic Review (Study 1); (ii) Do dark tourists personality characteristics and sociodemographic variables impact such motivations and dark tourists practices and wellbeing In Dark Tourists: Profile, Practices, Motivations and Wellbeing (Study 2); and (iii) Why do people visit the Holocaust Museum of Porto do sociodemographic variables, visitors identification with Jewish community members, and their knowledge of dark tourism and experience with other Holocaust-related destinations influence their motivations in An Exploratory Study on the Motivations behind Visiting the Holocaust Museum of Porto (Study 3). The first study reviews the literature that addresses and entwines the themes of dark tourism, the Holocaust, and wellbeing, thus creating a better understanding of the phenomena at stake and identifying gaps in the literature. The second study explicitly address the motivations to visit dark tourism places and whether visitors characteristics impact them. Finally, the third study focuses on the case of the Holocaust Museum of Porto and its visitors motivations.