Looking behind the scenes at dark tourism: a comparison between academic publications and user-generated-content using natural language processing

Although scholars have discussed the topic of dark tourism from various angles, little is known from tourists’ perspectives. Thus, it remains largely unanswered whether the research agendas in the field of dark tourism also correspond to the reality of tourism or whether relevant topics remain unaddressed. This study uses natural language processing approaches to uncover the differences and similarities in knowledge between tourists and researchers based on academic publications and Instagram posts. The results provide insights into underexplored tourist experiences at various dark places, such as Vienna, Philadelphia, Estonia, and the Czech Republic. The findings also uncover activities rarely considered as a form of dark tourism, such as urban exploration and ghost hunting. By highlighting the differences in perceptions between scholars and tourists, this study points to future research directions and offers insights into what interests tourists to various stakeholders.