Unraveling Tourists’ Experience of a Cremation Site: A Text Mining Approach

Abstract

This article investigates the experiences of tourists visiting a cremation site, an unconventional tourist destination. By analyzing online reviews collected from TripAdvisor, using text mining and natural language processing (NLP) techniques, the study aims to fill the gaps in the literature on tourists’ experiences at cremation sites. The study explores the differences in the experiences of Indian domestic tourists and those from other cultural backgrounds. This study applies the views of Urry’s gaze theory and Stone’s dark tourism classification theory to discuss the tourists’ experiences. The results reveal significant differences in the experiences of Indian and international tourists. The emotion of foreign tourists lies with the existential and philosophical dimension, and Indian tourists are more connected with religious and mythological dimensions. The results validate Urry’s gaze theory and disagree with Stone’s dark tourism classification. This research contributes to the existing knowledge of dark tourism by providing valuable insights into tourists’ experiences at unconventional sites. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of location managers understanding the significance of tourists’ experiences at sites to create enjoyable tours for domestic and international visitors. The article will benefit casual vacationers, academics, and scholars specializing in dark tourism, travelers’ narratives, online reviews, NLP, and trip organizers.