Ispectrum Magazine Ispectrum Magazine #10 | Seite 8

factors, with facilitation of social interaction and socio-psychological reasons significant contributors.
Interestingly, Uzzell
(1984) claimed that
tourists visit places
according to their psychological needs, which
would raise interesting
Dark tourism is nothing new - it has existed
in a basic form for centuries. In the Middle
Ages and before, people would go to witness public executions,
and for many it was a
day out with the family. Curiosity was the
pull for these people
- especially when the
unfortunate
person
sentenced to death
was well known. Even
now, where the people who died might be
nameless, the more
famous the atrocity
the more visitors there
will be. Tourists in gen-

eral today (and even
historically) have been
motivated by push and
pull factors - the push
of psychological factors
to do something and
the pull of the external
motivators of a destination. Generally, pull
factors have been considered more important
with push factors being
attributed solely to the
desire to escape from
everyday life.

However, research has
proven that push factors are equally as
important as the pull
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