This study was conducted to understand the Sabahan youths' understanding, knowledge, and motivation for visiting dark tourism sites. The theory of push-pull framework is a popular theory for explaining why youth choose to visit one destination over another, the type of experience, and the type of activity. The overall purpose of this study is to utilise the push-pull theory in combination with four dark tourism variables (unique learning experience, casual interest, engaging experience, and dark experience) to better understand the motivation factors of Sabahan youth for visiting dark tourism sites in Sabah, Malaysia. A total of 384 respondents were collected from the distribution of questionnaires, and the data is analysed by SPSS software to ensure the questionnaire's suitability and reliability by using Cronbach's Alpha. Most Sabahan youths have visited the common places such as Agnes Keith House, Kundasang War Memorial, Petagas War Memorial, Sandakan Memorial Park, and Monsopiad Cultural Village. The theory of push-pull factors was utilised to address the following research objectives: (i) to identify the Sabahan youths' understanding and knowledge of dark tourism; and (ii) to determine the Sabahan youths' motivation factors for visiting dark tourism sites. The dark tourism variables utilised for this study were adapted and supported by previous dark tourism research by (Allman, 2017).
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