What is an example of dark tourism?

Destinations of dark tourism include castles and battlefields such as Culloden in Scotland and Bran Castle and Poienari Castle in Romania; former prisons such as Beaumaris Prison in Anglesey, Wales and the Jack the Ripper exhibition in the London Dungeon; sites of natural disasters or man made disasters, such as ...



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Experts call the phenomenon dark tourism, and they say it has a long tradition. Dark tourism refers to visiting places where some of the darkest events of human history have unfolded. That can include genocide, assassination, incarceration, ethnic cleansing, war or disaster — either natural or accidental.

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The consensus between the literature researchers is that dark tourism has a typology depending on the visitors' motivations and sites, namely War/Battlefield Tourism, Disaster Tourism, Prison Tourism, Cemetery Tourism, Ghost Tourism, and Holocaust Tourism.

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Dark tourism comprises visiting real or recreated places related with death, suffering, disgrace, or the macabre [1,2].

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Some of the world's leading dark tourism hotspots are: Chernobyl. Murambi Genocide Memorial, Rwanda. Hiroshima.

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This form of tourism attracts many visitors and has its economic benefits to those working in the sector and the area where such a destination is located. However, Dark Tourism often goes hand in hand with ethical dilemmas and critiques, such as the gain of economic profits and the behavior of the visitors.

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Tourists' interest in places associated with death and tragedy may also be related to educational goals [9]. Curiosity and the need to learn and understand are entwined. Dark tourism develops curiosity and satisfies the desire for knowledge of past suffering and pain [26].

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Dark tourism involves visiting places associated with death, tragedy, and suffering. Dark tourism is a controversial form of tourism that raises ethical concerns. Dark tourism has been around for centuries, but the term “dark tourism” was only coined in the 1990s.

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Reasons for why people engage in dark tourism vary. The same survey found that over half (52%) of those respondents value the educational aspect of visiting macabre or dark destinations. 48% claimed to visit sites of tragedy to pay tribute to the victims.

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“It depends,” says Granato. Generally, she finds that most archaeologists, academics, and museum curators think that the default answer is “yes, it is ethical” and may possibly question it later. “But I think the default answer should change to 'no'—with the caveat that sometimes it is ethical.”

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“At such sites,” he says, “what is important is place authenticity, getting a feel for the atmosphere, even aura, of a place where some significant dark chapters of history played out. So concentrate on that aspect.” One way to do this, of course, is by refraining from excessive photography, and particularly selfies.

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It raises concerns about the moral boundaries of dark tourism and the marketing of places of tragedy and death, while offering them for consumption (Stone, 2009). Selling souvenirs from sites of death effectively commercializes death.

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Man's obsession with death, existential contemplation, human suffering and spirituality all play their part in the proliferation of dark tourism, and such destinations rise to feelings of melancholy, sadness, pity and fear – all aberrantly pleasurable emotions for humans.

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The term “dark tourism” was coined in 1996, by two academics from Scotland, J. John Lennon and Malcolm Foley, who wrote “Dark Tourism: The Attraction to Death and Disaster.”

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This former prison island in the Bay of San Francisco, USA, is one of the world's premier (and most popular) dark-tourism attractions.

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