Experiences of visitors to Gallipoli, a nostalgia-themed dark tourism destination: an insight from TripAdvisor

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine and understand the experiences of travelers to Gallipoli, by analyzing their online comments and reviews. Design/methodology/approach - The data were garnered from the well-known online user blog TripAdvisor. Data, concerning visiting the Gallipoli Peninsula, were retrieved from (n = 330) travelers' reviews and comments, and were examined using content analysis to elicit and identify their experiences. Findings - Overall, the travelers' reviews and comments mostly conveyed emotional and nostalgic experiences. Further, the travelers' nostalgic experiences of Gallipoli emerged as historical nostalgia deriving from the personal attachment of travelers to the site. Research limitations/implications - The data have shown that the experiences of travelers to Gallipoli can mostly be identified as emotional, which are generally consistent with the current literature. This paper utilized traveler reviews and comments on TripAdvisor, left by tourists who had previously visited Gallipoli, and this represents the limitation of the present study. Thus, to better understand the experiences of travelers visiting Gallipoli, with regard to their psychological aspect, future research should be conducted with travelers either through face-to-face interviews or via a survey. Originality/value - Despite its significance for dark tourists, limited research has been carried out that deals with the experiences of travelers visiting the Gallipoli battlefield. As such, this is the first research project designed to highlight the experience of dark tourism, under the concept of nostalgic tourism, by providing valuable data and a deeper understanding of the field.