Tourists’ sense of place and heritage protection when visiting natural disaster memorials

Abstract

Sense of place primarily reflects the relationship between people and places. Dark tourism is an activity that establishes an emotional interaction between tourists and the destination. However, research on tourists' sense of place in dark tourism is scarce. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between tourists' sense of place and heritage protection in dark tourism. The results show that destination attractiveness and tourism function's contribution to the sense of place is positive and significant. Additionally, sense of place affects heritage protection positively. Furthermore, sense of place mediates the positive relationship between heritage protection and tourist involvement, destination attractiveness, as well as tourism function.