Tourists increasingly seek authentic experiences that are unique, unusual, different, unprescribed, or uncontrolled. While the idea of authentic travel is not new, there is an increasing market for these types of experiences.
This Collection explores the growing trend in alternative tourism that centres on high-risk and emotionally intense experiences. These include travel to dangerous or unstable regions, such as war zones, disaster sites, or extreme natural environments, and participation in deep-sea diving or extreme sports activities. It also covers visits to sites of tragedy or trauma, like Chernobyl or Fukushima. These journeys raise questions concerning ethics and safety, particularly around the commercialisation/commodification of suffering and the potential for education and reflection.
This Collection invites research on all forms of alternative tourism, including visitor motivations, economic and community impacts, ethical concerns, and legal and safety issues for both operators and tourists. We welcome studies on dark tourism, adventure, and extreme-sport tourism, where risk, danger, or physical, emotional, and mental stress are central to the experience.
Motivations and mindsets of thrill-seeking/alternative tourists
• Drivers behind interest in adventure, extreme, and dark tourism include curiosity, danger, prestige, and thrill-seeking
• Psychological and emotional factors include fear, horror, relief, and the desire for intense experiences
• Tourist profiles and current trends in thrill-based travel
• Moral reasoning and attitudes toward controversial experiences and fellow tourists
Management and regulation
• Best practices for managing extreme tourism to ensure safety and sustainability for all stakeholders
• Regulation of dark tourism, including policies to protect sites and local communities
• Green policies for tourism involving animals or environmentally sensitive areas
• Policy frameworks that balance tourism growth with cultural and historical preservation
• Strategies to guide visitor behaviour and expectations for respectful, appropriate experiences
Impact of dark tourism on communities
• How local communities perceive dark tourism, especially if local citizens still experience trauma
• Effects on local culture and society, including shifts in attitudes, disruption of traditions, and efforts to preserve heritage sites
• Impact of alternative tourism, such as on job creation and business opportunities
We welcome interdisciplinary perspectives, including those from tourism studies, sociology, consumer behaviour, ethics, philosophy, museology, history education, and economics.
