Tourism Management Studies

Scientometric Analysis of Dark Tourism: Identifying Knowledge Patterns, Research Gaps

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Hafez Mahdnejad 1
mohammad alizadeh 2

1 Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Faculty of Humanities, Sayyed Jamaleddin Asadabadi University, Asadabad, Iran

2 Assistant Professor Department of Iranian Studies, Faculty of Iranian Studies, Vali-e-Asr University of Rafsanjan, Rafsanjan, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22054/tms.2026.91236.3169
Abstract
Dark tourism, focuses on visits to destinations associated with death, disaster, and suffering. This study employed scientometric analysis and thematic clustering to examine patterns, research gaps, and emerging topics. The dataset comprised 1,293 sources (books, articles, and book chapters) from Scopus (1988–2025), analyzed using VOSviewer for keyword co-occurrence mapping. Findings revealed that "dark tourism," "cultural heritage," and "death" exhibited the highest frequency and link strength. Temporal keyword overlap revealed evolving trends, with concepts such as sustainability, collective memory, and well-being gaining prominence after 2020. Existing research predominantly focuses on specific events while neglecting cross-destination comparisons. Major gaps include a shortage of qualitative studies, insufficient attention to ethical and environmental dimensions, and the limited role of digital technology. Emerging themes encompass dark tourism in the digital age, climate change impacts, mental health, human rights, and urbanization.

Keywords

Dark tourism
Scientometrics
Thematic clustering
Research gaps
Emerging topics
Subjects
Tourism Management Studies

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 07 June 2026

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