Visitor Experiences at Dark Tourism Sites in Malaysia: A Thematic Analysis of Online Reviews on Kellie's Castle and Penang War Museum

Abstract

This study examines visitor experiences at two prominent dark tourism sites in Malaysia: Kellie's Castle and Penang War Museum. We analysed 300 online reviews from TripAdvisor and Google Review using qualitative content analysis with open coding, process coding, and emotional coding. The analysis revealed five interconnected themes that characterise visitor experiences: (1) Historical discovery and learning, (2) Emotional resonance and affective responses, (3) Authenticity and site interpretation, (4) Supernatural expectation gap, and (5) Social sharing and memory construction. What we found was that historical discovery remains the main driver of visitor satisfaction, while supernatural expectations frequently lead to disappointment due to mismanaged site interpretation. This paper adds to dark tourism literature by showing how online reviews can give us rich insights into how visitors make sense of their experiences at dark tourism sites. For site managers, we recommend better interpretive materials, improved maintenance, and more honest marketing about what visitors can actually expect.