What is dark tourism and why is it so popular?

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.



People Also Ask

Although an 'official' term did not exist until 1996, dark tourism is not a new practice. People have been visiting sites of death and tragedy for centuries. Early examples include viewing public hangings and decapitations, or spectators at gladiatorial games in the Colosseum.

MORE DETAILS

While dark tourism is growing in popularity, it has existed for as long as people have had a fascination with death and a penchant for travel. Social media has made dark tourism feel increasingly voyeuristic.

MORE DETAILS

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 ...

MORE DETAILS

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

MORE DETAILS

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.

MORE DETAILS

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.

MORE DETAILS

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.”

MORE DETAILS

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.”

MORE DETAILS

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.

MORE DETAILS

Ashworth (2004) and Ashworth and Hartmann [27] suggested three main reasons for visiting dark sites: curiosity about the unusual, attraction to horror, and a desire for empathy or identification with the victims of atrocity.

MORE DETAILS

Destinations considered as dark tourism sites, are museums, cemeteries, slums, concentration camps, war scenarios, attempts or others places of tragedy [34].

MORE DETAILS

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.

MORE DETAILS

The Dark Tourism market is estimated to reach US$ 30 Billion in 2022. As per the report, sales are forecast to increase at a robust 2% CAGR, with the market valuation reaching US$ 36.5 Billion by 2032.

MORE DETAILS

While the tourist motivations to visit sites of a sensitive nature may be diverse, dark tourism remains a morally relevant issue that involves a questioning of moral judgment (Rojek,1997; Stone, 2009). It has always raised issues of how morality is collectively conveyed and individually constructed.

MORE DETAILS

Ethical tourists consider the impact of their actions with regards to the three pillars of sustainable tourism– the environment, the economy and society.

MORE DETAILS