It is a modern tendency where visitors travel to sites of mass destruction, death, or extended suffering. Though the study of dark tourism has been widely expanded over the recent years, less attention was given to the Southeast Asian destinations.
People Also Ask
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.
Dark tourism comprises visiting real or recreated places related with death, suffering, disgrace, or the macabre [1,2]. From the perspective of dark tourism places, it is important to understand what drives people to visit them to design satisfying experiences.
Why is dark tourism controversial? Despite the positives, there can be negative aspects of dark tourism, too. Avoid tourism sites being run purely for profit rather than to educate, or tour operators and museums that are insensitively sharing the view of both the victims and the perpetrators.
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 ...
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.
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.”
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.”
“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.”
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.
Dark Tourism comes from the practice of Thanatourim (Death Tourism) and transitioned over time to follow the guideline of Dark Tourism. The connection to the aspect of the sacred can also be seen in Thanatourism where the sacred was a religious sacred, connected to the pilgrimage locations throughout Europe.