Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025)
JOURNAL ON TOURISM & SUSTAINABILITY

Papers

X-Tourism Reimagined: Survival Horror Video Games As New Frontiers Of Responsible And Experiential Tourism

Published 2025-07-22

  • Giammarco Tosi
    • ,
  • Ignacio Ochoa

Giammarco Tosi
Indipenent Researcher

Ignacio Ochoa
Indipenent Researcher

Abstract

This expanded paper explores the intersection of X-tourism and survival horror video games as immersive, ethical, and environmentally conscious travel experiences. Building upon the original 2010 framework by Tosi and Ochoa, we investigate how games like Resident Evil Village, Silent Hill, Dead Space, and Amnesia: The Dark Descent offer digitally mediated journeys that align with ecotourism, responsible tourism, and sustainability principles. Through a literature review, empirical findings, and a design framework, we analyze how horror settings engage players emotionally while encouraging reflection on environmental degradation, cultural trauma, and historical responsibility. We propose the TREES framework to guide game designers in crafting horror experiences that entertain, educate, and promote awareness. Survival horror games emerge as a powerful medium for a new paradigm of virtual tourism rooted in conscience, place, and learning.

Keywords

Digital Tourism, Ecotourism, Experiential Learning, Responsible Tourism, Survival Horror, Virtual Experience, X-tourism

Full Article

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