Why is dark tourism growing?

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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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.

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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.

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Tourism has grown massively as an industry over the past century for a variety of reasons: Advances in travel technology - There are a wider range of ways to travel as a tourist and these methods are widely available. You can be a tourist using a car, a boat and most importantly an airplane.

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

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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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Slow travel is gaining popularity because it allows travelers to connect with a destination in a deeper way, fostering a more authentic experience.

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Dark tourism is defined as the act of tourists traveling to sites of death, tragedy, and suffering (Foley and Lennon, 1996).

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Dark tourism can be educational and help people understand and appreciate history. Dark tourism can also be seen as exploitative and disrespectful to the victims and their families.

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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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All tourists to Auschwitz are usually seen as dark tourists [26], an approach that overlooks the possibility that the reasons for visiting and the experiences sought might be completely devoid of interest in death. In a study of visitors to Auschwitz, Biran et al.

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The United States was the leading inbound travel market for the United Kingdom in 2022 based on the number of visits. That year, the UK reported approximately 4.6 million inbound trips from the U.S., surpassing the figure recorded in 2019, prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

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The Travel and Tourism Development Index ranked the UK as the fifth-best country for non-leisure travel worldwide in 2021, and the first-best country in Europe.

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