Walking in the steps of Jack the Ripper - Understanding the motivations, experience and evaluations of participants in the Jack the Ripper walking tours in London

This research focuses on the motivations, experience and evaluation of participants who take part in the Jack the Ripper walking tour in London. The field of dark tourism shows much interest in the motivations of tourists who take part in dark attractions. However, most of the studies concerning the motivations of tourists focus on death as the main motivational factor in their decision to take part in these dark activities. Despite the fact that Jack the Ripper walking tours focus on death, it is not the main motivational factor in the decision of the participants. Moreover, not much data is found concerning the experience and evaluation of the tourists’ experience. Thus, this research has the purpose of bringing to light the main motivations of the participants, but also analyzing their experience and evaluation of the experience by answering the following research question: What are the motivations, experience and evaluation of participants in the Jack the Ripper walking tours? This research focuses on what motivates a participant to take part in this walking tour, how their motivations and expectations impact their experience and how they evaluate their experience by focusing both on the negative and positive aspects. This project uses qualitative research through the process of interviewing participants who have taken part in the Jack the Ripper walking tour. The collected data has been analyzed thematically in order to discuss the motivations, experience and evaluation of participants. It has been divided in to three different parts. Firstly, the study fovuses on the motivations of tourists by analyzing the common themes that are brought up during the interviews such as the mystery surrounding Jack the Ripper and the case. It also highlights how tourists are motivated by the educational purpose and the chance to experience Victorian London. Secondly the expectations of the tourists have also been analyzed in order to show how much of the expectations lie on the tour guide to create a memorable experience. It also discusses how the expectations of tourists depend also on their preconceived notions and images, which are formed and distributed by the media. Finally, it highlights their experience as the tour guide’s skills are responsible for the outcome of the participants tour. This research discusses how the tour guide has the ability to transport the tourists back in Victorian London through a combination of narratives and story-telling techniques. It explains how tourists go on these walking tours in order to experience on site the pre-conceived images which are present in their imaginations. And finally, the data shows how these experiences perpetuate the distribution of this image of Victorian London while also contributing to the place identity of Whitechapel as a poor neighborhood filled with crime. This paper seeks to contribute to the studies on place identity and tourist motivation by showing how the motivations of tourists and participants are linked and motivated by the preconceived ideas they have of a site. It will also contribute to studies on tour guides by showing how the guide is the most crucial factor of an enjoyable experience.