Dark Tourism
THE DEFINITION OF DARK TOURISM
The term “Dark Tourism” was first coined in 1996 by John Lennon (no, not that one) and Malcolm Foley, professors at Glasgow Caledonian University in the Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Management. Dark tourism refers to tourism to sites of mass tragedy and death.
Today, dark tourism has many names, including tanaturism, grief tourism and morbid tourism. There are also many facets of dark tourism, such as nuclear tourism, war tourism, or slum tourism (more on these below).
Understandably, many of them are controversial.
Additionally, because there is no better term for sites generally associated with the macabre, we currently expand it to include abandoned places and ghost towns, ghost stories, cemeteries, riot sites, prisons, and anything macabre.
But we always want to look at these places from an educational and historical point of view.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF DARK TOURISM
Although there was no “official” term until 1996, dark tourism is not a new practice. People have been visiting places of death and tragedy for centuries. Early examples include seeing public hangings and beheadings, or spectators at gladiatorial games in the Colosseum. Pompeii has been popular with those who can travel, almost since its tragic end in 79 AD. In the early 19th century, the site of the Battle of Waterloo became one of the most visited places in the world.
Pilgrims arguably became the first dark tourists, as they often set out to visit sites of executions and deaths surrounding religious figures. An example is Muhammad’s final resting place at Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (or the Prophet’s Mosque) in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
It is important to remember that ancient sites are not, strictly speaking, dark tourism sites. Dark Tourism refers to sites that affect memory and recent heritage. Although the Colosseum or Pompeii have a dark history and are tourist sites, they are first and foremost historical sites. Although again, we can, until we establish separate pages for them, throw them into dark tourism for the time being.
WHY WRITE ABOUT DARK TOURISM?
Our goal is to introduce people to different types of dark tourism. For example, while not strictly a site of mass death, we believe that sites such as East Grinstead’s Queen Victoria Hospital fall within the realm of dark tourism, as their historical significance is rooted in tragedy. That is to say, without the disasters of war, its current version would not exist. We also want to examine why dark tourism is so popular, why we feel it is important (despite its controversy), and how to be a responsible dark tourist.
We believe that dark tourism is essential to understanding a country. I (Dagney) used to live in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and I met A LOT of tourists and foreigners who complained about the city because it was too busy, too polluted, and too corrupt. Many of them just wanted to go to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat and then head to the beach. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying all the tourists, but enough of them. Often when I asked them if they would visit the Killing Fields or Tuol Sleng, or even Wat Thmei in Siem Reap, they would say no, because it was too depressing.
Yes, visiting any site associated with the Killing Fields is heartbreaking, but not only can you not fully understand modern Khmer culture without visiting it, you are doing a disservice to the Khmer people and ignoring these tragedies. Because here’s the thing: you’d be surprised how many people have been to Cambodia and don’t realize that the Killing Fields are everywhere. Choeung Ek (also known as the Killing Fields), in Phnom Penh, is one of THOUSANDS of sites throughout the country. Many people I have met who have been to Cambodia don’t know that places like this exist in Siem Reap.
Likewise, if the aforementioned people took the time to understand the state of Cambodia before the war (it was often considered one of the most progressive and developed in the region), the genocide itself and its consequences -i.e. , that almost no high-ranking members of the Pol Pot regime were ever sentenced, and the current Prime Minister is a former member; They could have a little more compassion for the Khmer people. Cambodia is currently considered to be one of the poorest in the region because it is still recovering from a war that some people in the country are not even aware of.
TYPES OF DARK TOURISM
Dark tourism can be divided into many subcategories (countless, actually), many of which overlap. These are some of the most popular:
– Genocide tourism: Genocide refers to the deliberate and systematic murder of a specific group of people, usually targeted because of their religion, ethnicity, race or nation, although in the case of the Khmer Rouge genocide it was the poor and agrarian versus rich and urban (in very simplified terms). Genocide tourism is by far the most well-known form of dark tourism, encompassing many of the mass tragedies throughout history. These are just some of the horrible events covered by genocide tourism: the Holocaust in Europe, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, the Hutu massacres in Rwanda, the Holodomor in Ukraine, the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire (specifically Turkey), Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar and the massacres of Native Americans in the United States.
– Holocaust Tourism: Holocaust tourism is the most popular form of genocide tourism. This involves visiting sites specifically affiliated with the Holocaust and Hitler’s Final Solution. So World War II battlefield sites do not fall into this category. However, labor camps, concentration camps, mass graves or museums like the Anne Frank House do. However, it is not always clear. Places like Lidice, a town outside Prague devastated by the Nazis, could be considered Holocaust tourism since it was retaliation for the murder of Reinhard Heydrich, but since no one who lived there was Jewish, some might not consider it that way. . Personally, Lidice is Holocaust tourism for me because it was a direct result of Hitler’s Final Solution and an attempt to undermine it, rather than a tragic consequence of the war.
– War tourism: this one is self-explanatory. From unknown civil wars to world wars, this type of tourism encompasses war-related sites. This would include the battlefield re-enactments at Gettysburg, USA, the Normandy cemeteries or the war memorial at Elephant Pass in Sri Lanka. Many genocide and Holocaust sites also fall under war tourism, and some people interested in this form of tourism are actually battlefield tourists (many are also particularly interested in a particular war).
– Cold War and Iron Curtain Tourism: The Cold War is considered to have lasted between 1947 and 1991. The phrase evokes stories of spies, espionage and nuclear disasters. It was a period of increasing tension after World War II between the atomic superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union, as well as their allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc of Europe, respectively. Sites that fall under this scope generally include: sites along geopolitical borders (such as the Berlin Wall or Checkpoint Charlie, both in Berlin, Germany, or even the Demilitarized Zone between South Korea and North Korea), bunkers (such as the Qender Zjarri bunkers in Albania or the secret nuclear bunker in Ligatne, Latvia) and atomic test sites (see below). For some people, it also includes any place associated with being behind the “Iron Curtain”, which is similar to Soviet tourism (all listed below).
– Grave Tourism: Do you like to walk through a beautiful graveyard or graveyard? Do you find it interesting to search for famous tombs or find the most interesting statues? Then at least you like serious tourism a little. Please be responsible and, as with any form of dark tourism, be respectful!
– Nuclear Tourism (also known as Atomic Tourism): Nuclear tourism consists of visiting sites associated with nuclear technology, research and testing, sites of nuclear explosions and accidents, and everything related to nuclear and atomic energy. Famous nuclear tourism sites include Hiroshima, Chernobyl and the Bikini Atoll Test Site in the Marshall Islands.
– Medical dark tourism: Medical dark tourism is all about the history of medicine and gross things in jars. These are places such as old operating theatres, cities plagued by plague, sanatoriums or medical museums with human specimens. This is one of my favorite forms of dark tourism, but it’s definitely not for everyone. I just find it incredibly fascinating (Jeremy is a little more hesitant about this). Plus, knowing how far medical science has come will make you very grateful to be alive now. We also include sites such as East Grinstead Hospital due to its connection to the Second World War and medical advances.
– Cult of personality tourism: fascinating serial killers, magnetic cult leaders, charismatic tyrants… there is something about this type of psychopath that seems to attract us. Cult of personality tourism covers everything from tours of Jeffery Dahmer and Pablo Escobar to visits to the North. Korea or Turkmenistan
TYPES OF TOURISM OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH DARK TOURISM
Here are some types of tourism that are often grouped with dark tourism, but are different:
– Supernatural tourism: As much as we love good hauntings, their links to dark tourism are often tenuous at best. While the occasional haunted house backstory can fit in quite well, depending on its historical accuracy, vampires, witches, and werewolves not so much. However, the mistreatment of those labeled “different” and others throughout history can certainly fall into this category. Particularly in the supernatural category, the horrific witch trials in Europe and the United States definitely fall under dark tourism.
Disaster Tourism: Refers to the practice of visiting sites that have been affected by an environmental disaster. These disasters can be man-made, such as Chernobyl (which is also dark tourism) or the Exxon Valdez oil spill, which did not directly kill any people, but did kill countless animals, caused a massive environmental impact, and may cause long-term financial and health concerns for fishermen along the affected coast. Alternatively, these sites could be natural disasters such as floods or tsunamis. Disaster tourism has its own set of ethical issues and concerns.
– Fatalistic tourism: A sort of precursor to disaster tourism, fatalistic tourism refers to travel to sites that are potentially endangered (i.e. doomed) due to natural or man-made causes and that will not be available for a long time. . Examples of places like this are the coral reefs of Australia and the Florida Everglades. Many would also include Venice or Machu Picchu. Personally, this seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me. We tend to avoid these sites.
– Soviet tourism: It is simply about visiting old Soviet sites. And yes, while many ex-Soviet sites certainly fall under the umbrella of dark tourism (see communism and cold war tourism above), not all Soviet tourism is dark tourism. For example, some people choose to travel solely or predominantly through former Soviet countries (after all, there are many). But simply visiting kyiv is not dark tourism. Naturally, there is a lot of overlap with Cold War tourism (above) and red tourism (below), but also with Holocaust and World War II tourism due to the USSR’s role in World War II.
– Red tourism: Sometimes called communist tourism, red tourism is very similar to Soviet tourism, but refers to tourism around the world related to communist sites of historical importance. In reality, red tourism is supported by the Chinese government, which is why it is more common in China. However, this means that many (although not all) sites in China portray themselves positively rather than examining the negative effects of communism on the country. Red tourism sites in China range from Shaoshan (mao Zedong’s birthplace) to Xifeng concentration camp. Red tourism often overlaps with dark tourism when it includes travel to countries still under communism, such as North Korea, or taking communist tours in countries that were formerly under communism, such as Estonia or the Czech Republic.
– Heritage Tourism: There are many different types of heritage tourism. The most popular is cultural heritage tourism, which involves visiting sites of cultural and historical importance. It also includes sites of natural beauty (think national parks, the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia or the Tiger’s Nest in Bhutan). While many dark tourism sites fit into this type of heritage tourism (I don’t think anyone would argue that The Killing Fields or Auschwitz are not culturally and historically significant), there is another type of heritage tourism that also tends to encompass dark tourism. . tourist sites, specifically tourism to discover one’s own heritage. Heritage tours are particularly common among American Jews visiting Central and Eastern Europe and Israel. However, it is by no means limited to this demographic.