Edinburgh Napier University

  There is a substantial body of literature in slavery heritage tourism research that is mainly supply-driven and has focused on the management, presentation, and interpretation of slavery heritage for tourism purposes. However, the demand side in slavery heritage tourism research is under-researched and ripe for further contributions. Publications concentrated on the demand side have researched visitor motivations and experiences at slavery heritage attractions, particularly at plantation museums in the USA and slave castles in Ghana. Yet, to date, the factors that influence visitors to engage with slavery heritage attractions remain unexplored within the extant body of literature. Therefore, this thesis critically evaluates the factors that influence visitor engagement with UK slavery heritage museums. The thesis employed a blended passive symbolic netnographic methodology, combining online semi-structured interviews with content analysis of TripAdvisor reviews. Data was collected through unobtrusive internet-mediated observations of TripAdvisor reviews and online semi-structured interviews with thirteen managers and curators from eight UK slavery heritage museums, which were selected through purposive sampling. Through thematic analysis, the findings revealed that visitor engagement with UK slavery heritage museums varies and is subjective. It has been found that prior knowledge, multiple motivations, cultural capital, social capital, and the management of the visitor attraction influence visitor engagement with UK slavery heritage museums and are not mutually exclusive. Thus, this subjectivity and overlapping of factors present a challenge for museum professionals in designing these attractions for visitor consumption. These findings are unique to dark tourism research, particularly slavery heritage tourism, as this study is the first to have researched and documented the factors that influence visitor engagement with UK slavery heritage museums. The thesis contributes to an understanding of visitor engagement with UK slavery heritage museums through the development of a conceptual framework. The findings of the thesis provide insights into the factors that influence visitor engagement with UK slavery heritage museums to managers, curators, and decision-makers responsible for designing and managing these attractions. Therefore, the thesis findings enable museum professionals to develop strategies to better manage visitor engagement with slavery heritage museums.

Keywords: Museums, Netnography, Slavery, Visitor engagement