The Lived Travel Experience to North Korea

Tourism in North Korea is limited by entry bans, visa restrictions, and stringently controlled itineraries. As a consequence, the experience of visiting the country is still poorly understood by academics and practitioners alike. In order to fill this research void, this study aims to describe the essence of the lived experience of travelling to North Korea, following an approach embedded in the philosophical underpinnings of transcendental phenomenology. Based on eight narratives by tourists who have visited the country, the essence of the lived North Korea travel experience is identified as comprising dimensions of trepidation, self-regulation, doubt, and catharsis. Discussing the findings through a tourism lens, suggestions for further research are made and theoretical as well as methodological contributions are highlighted.