MAPPING TWO DECADES OF RESEARCH ON DARK TOURISM AND THANATOURISM: A BIBLIOMETRIC PERSPECTIVE

Dark tourism is an umbrella term for tourism related to death, suffering, cruelty, tragedy and/or crime. Thanatourism, on the other hand, refers to travel motivated by the specific desire to encounter death. However, these terms have become increasingly vague over time. This study uses VOSviewer to present a bibliometric analysis of dark tourism and thanatourism, aiming to clarify both terms and present the main lines of research. The main objective is to provide a qualitative and quantitative analysis of research published from 1996 to 2024. Data were collected from 548 documents in the period 1996-2024 (December) from the Web of Science database. Using the VOSviewer software, scientific maps were created showing the scientifical structure (co-citation analysis) and the current and future line of research (co-word analysis) in this scientific field. The scientifical structure shows the relevance of the two main approach: supply or demand approach, and integrated supply-demand approach. The main lines of research show the relevance of emotions in dark tourism experience, motivation for the death of dark tourists, authenticity in dark heritage, disaster tourism, and battlefield tourism. Furthermore, the final research line is related to emotions in dark tourism experience. The findings contribute to a broad and diverse understanding of the concepts of dark tourism and thanatourism, which can provide important insights for DMOs and policymakers in formulating management strategies in relation to collective memory and authenticity in dark touristic places. For example, it is is recommended that measures be implemented to enhance the authenticity of these tourist destinations, thereby increasing their educational value, fostering greater respect for history, and preserving the memory of the victims. Moreoover, these places play an important role in constructing a memory of national identification and fostering loyalty to the political entity of the state.