Market Segmentation and Dark Tourism and the (Post) Pandemic Scenario

Introduction

Tourism is a phenomenon responsible for a set of activities carried out by one or more individuals, for a period of less than a year. These individuals are considered tourists or visitors, depending on whether they stay overnight at the destination, traveling to a place outside their area of residence for any reason related to leisure or recreation, as long as they don’t engage in a paid activity. There are several segments that make up this sector, Dark Tourism is the one highlighted in this article. This is defined as the phenomenon that embraces the presence and consumption, by visitors, of places related to frightening events and that serve as tourist attraction and/or entertainment. These had a certain impact, historically, and will continue to have it in our lives (Fonseca, Seabra & Silva, 2016; Gonçalves, 2017). In 2020, the planet saw a sharp decline in the Tourism sector, caused by the entry of COVID-19 into the lives of the world's population. This is an infectious disease, caused by a virus, that is closely linked to the severe acute respiratory syndrome that emerged and spread around the world in the early 21st century. The present chapter aims to analyze and understand the impacts of COVID-19 on Dark Tourism, nowadays, as well as in the future. Initially, the concept of Tourism was studied, followed by an extensive analysis of the notion of Dark Tourism and its various parameters. This was followed by a search about COVID-19. It was firstly defined, then established a relationship with Dark Tourism and how it is affected by it.

Finally, a reflection was made on these two themes, seeking to obtain a future perspective for the development of this niche of tourism in a post-pandemic period. Covid-19 had a big impact in people's lives and their routines. One of the most affected sectors was the tourism one, because the world stopped. The authors thought it would be interesting to understand better how this pandemic affected the Dark Tourism industry and how this niche will develop afterwards. The purpose of this study is to acknowledge how this industry will react, along with its consumers, to the changes that are happening worldwide. It was applied a mono-method research to get a general view of Dark Tourism and Covid-19, along with its impacts. The authors also want to understand what changes will happen to the Dark Tourism customers, meaning that some tendencies can be adjusted, disappear or can be started. Furthermore, customer behavior will change, and we will see, in the next few years, lots of transformations coming to this niche, such as the implementation of the online industry/sector, which will impact supply and demand, so companies will have to keep in touch with all these developments. The present chapter finds can be used for future research, acting as a basis for empirical studies.