Edinburgh Napier University

  Sandakan Memorial Park was established to commemorate the suffering and death of British and Australian soldiers and other civilians that were imprisoned in Sandakan by the Japanese army during the Second World War between 1942 until 1945. Using Sandakan Memorial Park as a case study, this paper seeks to contribute to the literature on dark tourism by looking at the phenomenon in terms of visitor motivation and engagement. A mixed method of inquiry utilizing both qualitative and quantitative approaches was adopted in order to verify identified variables and achieve the study’s objectives. Contrary to prevailing scholarship on dark tourism, the study discovered that morbid curiosity and the contemplation of death were not among the primary reasons that western tourists visited Sandakan Memorial Park. Rather, especially in the case of Australian tourists, the perception of national heritage and a desire to learn were the key motivating factors. This paper also highlights the importance of on-site interpretation as a means to enhance the didactic and emotional value of the tourist experience at a dark tourism site.