DARK TOURISM: ISSUES OF SYSTEMATISATION AND CLASSIFICATION

Abstract

This article addresses the problem of classifying dark tourism as a complex and multidimensional tourism phenomenon that encompasses a wide range of tourism practices associated with the phenomena of death, tragic historical events, violence, suffering, and collective memory. The relevance of the study is determined by the absence of a unified approach to the systematisation of dark tourism forms, as well as by the tendency toward an overly broad interpretation of this concept in contemporary academic literature, which complicates both theoretical analysis and the practical application of classifications.

The study is based on an analysis of domestic and international academic sources, which made it possible to identify the main conceptual approaches to the interpretation and typologisation of dark tourism, to determine their strengths and methodological limitations, and to reveal the problem of conflating classical, borderline, and extreme forms.

As a result of the research, the author's classification of dark tourism is proposed, grounded in an object–event approach and taking into account the degree of institutionalization and commercialization of tourism practices. This approach allows for consideration of both the material objects of dark tourism and the tragic events that shape their symbolic and tourism significance.

The article substantiates a clear distinction between dark tourism and related fields, which made it possible to exclude extreme and controversial forms that do not correspond to its key criteria from the core of the classification. The proposed classification may be applied in academic research, applied tourism practice, and educational activities.