Penal heritage hotels as sites of conscience?: Exploring the use and management of penal heritage through adaptive reuse

Abstract

Decommissioned penal buildings have become a nascent form of heritage hotels. However, they remain under-researched within tourism and hospitality research despite the growing literature concerning prison tourism. While current discourse remains conflicted over the use of penal heritage for tourist experiences, this research note applies adaptive reuse theory to explore the use and management of penal heritage for tourist accommodation. In doing so, this study responds to calls for further research into heritage hotels, and specifically penal heritage buildings used in non-museum functions. Site visits and interviews informed the study's findings, which revealed a range of influences for how penal heritage is used and managed through adaptive reuse, thereby demonstrating the potential of penal heritage hotels to serve as sites of conscience.