Dark tourism: is it right to visit victim sites and disaster zones just because of human curiosity?
Author: Inga Kirspile
4 Commentries
Author: Inga Kirspile
University: University of Wolverhampton
Abstract: This paper will refers to the discussion of dark tourism with instigation of motivations and reasons except of curiosity of tourists who travelling to dark sites. There will be also provided examples of dark tourism sites in order to identify what are the major motivations and reasons of tourists who are visiting these attractions.
Keywords: dark tourism, curiosity, motivation, death
Discussion Paper: Dark tourism: is it right to visit victim sites and disaster zones just because of human curiosity?
Dieke et al. (2011) state dark tourism is becoming a widely known the form of tourism and it has increasing popularity among tourists around the globe in the tourism industry. The term ‘dark tourism’ describes the relationship between tourism attractions and an interest in death and the macabre. Dark tourism it is not a new phenomenon. Travelling to and experiencing places associated with death is an act that has been undertaken by tourists since the eleventh century. There is an acknowledgement that death is inevitable and the dark exhibit or attraction acts a point of reference for this experience. However, before moving to argue about is it right to visit such places only because of curiosity, firstly, should be discussed all motivations and reasons which tourists have for visiting dark tourism sites. Motivations for visits to dark locations or shrines are themselves complex and disparate, resulting in a multitude of reasons for engagement with the macabre. Sharpley and Stone (2009) claim there are predominating motives in the dark tourism motivations which were investigated in the plethora of studies and these include: curiosity, entertainment, empathic identiï¬cation, compassion, nationalistic motives, pilgrimage, event validation, identity search, education and a sense of social responsibility. This diversity in demand brings different forms of dark tourism and different types of dark tourists. Interpretations of dark sites are influenced not only by tourist motives but also by the image tourists hold of those attractions (Sharpley and Stone, 2009) The other motives and reasons which visitors have for dark tourism are coming in a variety of forms including; a pretext to understanding our own age, romanticism, barbarism, part of national identity, a sign of decadence, a mystical experience, a spiritual experience and the argument that people are naturally attracted to horror. People seek the strange and different in the protection of what is known. This could be one motivation to visit dark sites as the visitor can experience something dangerous within the safety of the tourism environment (Dieke et al., 2011). There is also an acknowledgement the experience is subjective and will vary from one individual to another with their relationship to the dark tourism site. Moreover, there are identified three types of tourist: those wanting to feel connected to history, those wanting to learn, and those with no motives linked to the historic site visited. Therefore, starting from here can be investigated what is predominated tourists type in certain dark tourism attractions as North Korea, Auschwitz, Poland and the disaster site after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, USA. According to Dieke et al. (2011) dark tourism sites should not be in no way used as an effective tool in the political manipulation, disinformation and propaganda. North Korea is a typical example where is fully applied communism politics. The country’s inhabitants live in the poor conditions because of political isolation, sanctions and mismanagement by the communist political dynasty. Additionally, there are high child mortality rates, an aging infrastructure and limited opportunities for the residents. However, the political message of the government is that it is truly the opposite (Dieke et al., 2011). Moreover, the majority of tourists who visit North Korea are driven by the interest to the country’s political system and a lot less who are going due to curiosity and this is definitely a positive fact. Another one of the most commercial examples is Auschwitz. The philosophy of the memorial is to save authenticity, adhere ethics towards the victims and provide an education out of the history. As in the previous example the biggest part of visitors is who coming here to honour the memory of the events and learn from the past. According to Sharpley and Stone (2009) much depends also on how the dark site is positioning itself. If it employs the same respectful strategy as Auschwitz, then there would be mostly attracted appropriate tourists which the site aims to see. In the example of disaster site in New Orleans travel companies were making profit from the loss. There were 30 tours per day, even when there was a ban in order not to hamper clean-up works. Due to such mismanagement and unethical behaviour this attracts tourists who came not to honour victims and fully understand the seriousness of problem but simply to watch. It can be assumed that depending on what strategies a dark tourism site uses there will attracted a certain tourist market for it (Sharpley and Stone, 2009). This is why it is very important to apply acceptability, suitability and ethics of display in order to attract people who would visit dark locations with an acceptable purpose. Nevertheless, there will be always an existence for curiosity because it is inherent in a human. Further, Baran (2012) states “when curiosity driving the consumer's decision to visit is really irrelevant. If you believe that there is inherent good in people, then you operate under the assumption that the purpose of making such a trip is not to gawk but to gain an understanding of the situation." Therefore, it should be remembered that the curiosity is not always acceptable and in the case of dark tourism motivation should be more serious.
Reference list
Baran, M. (2012) Dark tourism. Travel Weekly: The Travel Industry’s Trusted Voice [online]. 20 March 2012 [Accessed 17 April 2014]. Available at:<http://www.travelweekly.com/travel-news/tour-operators/dark-tourism/>.
Dieke, P. U. C., Robinson, P. and Heitmann, S. (ed.) (2011) Research themes for tourism. Wallingford, Oxfordshire; Cambridge, MA: CABI.
Sharpley, M. and Stone, P. R. (ed.) (2009) The darker side of travel: the theory and pactice of dark tourism. Bristol: Channel View.
University: University of Wolverhampton
Abstract: This paper will refers to the discussion of dark tourism with instigation of motivations and reasons except of curiosity of tourists who travelling to dark sites. There will be also provided examples of dark tourism sites in order to identify what are the major motivations and reasons of tourists who are visiting these attractions.
Keywords: dark tourism, curiosity, motivation, death
Discussion Paper: Dark tourism: is it right to visit victim sites and disaster zones just because of human curiosity?
Dieke et al. (2011) state dark tourism is becoming a widely known the form of tourism and it has increasing popularity among tourists around the globe in the tourism industry. The term ‘dark tourism’ describes the relationship between tourism attractions and an interest in death and the macabre. Dark tourism it is not a new phenomenon. Travelling to and experiencing places associated with death is an act that has been undertaken by tourists since the eleventh century. There is an acknowledgement that death is inevitable and the dark exhibit or attraction acts a point of reference for this experience. However, before moving to argue about is it right to visit such places only because of curiosity, firstly, should be discussed all motivations and reasons which tourists have for visiting dark tourism sites. Motivations for visits to dark locations or shrines are themselves complex and disparate, resulting in a multitude of reasons for engagement with the macabre. Sharpley and Stone (2009) claim there are predominating motives in the dark tourism motivations which were investigated in the plethora of studies and these include: curiosity, entertainment, empathic identiï¬cation, compassion, nationalistic motives, pilgrimage, event validation, identity search, education and a sense of social responsibility. This diversity in demand brings different forms of dark tourism and different types of dark tourists. Interpretations of dark sites are influenced not only by tourist motives but also by the image tourists hold of those attractions (Sharpley and Stone, 2009) The other motives and reasons which visitors have for dark tourism are coming in a variety of forms including; a pretext to understanding our own age, romanticism, barbarism, part of national identity, a sign of decadence, a mystical experience, a spiritual experience and the argument that people are naturally attracted to horror. People seek the strange and different in the protection of what is known. This could be one motivation to visit dark sites as the visitor can experience something dangerous within the safety of the tourism environment (Dieke et al., 2011). There is also an acknowledgement the experience is subjective and will vary from one individual to another with their relationship to the dark tourism site. Moreover, there are identified three types of tourist: those wanting to feel connected to history, those wanting to learn, and those with no motives linked to the historic site visited. Therefore, starting from here can be investigated what is predominated tourists type in certain dark tourism attractions as North Korea, Auschwitz, Poland and the disaster site after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, USA. According to Dieke et al. (2011) dark tourism sites should not be in no way used as an effective tool in the political manipulation, disinformation and propaganda. North Korea is a typical example where is fully applied communism politics. The country’s inhabitants live in the poor conditions because of political isolation, sanctions and mismanagement by the communist political dynasty. Additionally, there are high child mortality rates, an aging infrastructure and limited opportunities for the residents. However, the political message of the government is that it is truly the opposite (Dieke et al., 2011). Moreover, the majority of tourists who visit North Korea are driven by the interest to the country’s political system and a lot less who are going due to curiosity and this is definitely a positive fact. Another one of the most commercial examples is Auschwitz. The philosophy of the memorial is to save authenticity, adhere ethics towards the victims and provide an education out of the history. As in the previous example the biggest part of visitors is who coming here to honour the memory of the events and learn from the past. According to Sharpley and Stone (2009) much depends also on how the dark site is positioning itself. If it employs the same respectful strategy as Auschwitz, then there would be mostly attracted appropriate tourists which the site aims to see. In the example of disaster site in New Orleans travel companies were making profit from the loss. There were 30 tours per day, even when there was a ban in order not to hamper clean-up works. Due to such mismanagement and unethical behaviour this attracts tourists who came not to honour victims and fully understand the seriousness of problem but simply to watch. It can be assumed that depending on what strategies a dark tourism site uses there will attracted a certain tourist market for it (Sharpley and Stone, 2009). This is why it is very important to apply acceptability, suitability and ethics of display in order to attract people who would visit dark locations with an acceptable purpose. Nevertheless, there will be always an existence for curiosity because it is inherent in a human. Further, Baran (2012) states “when curiosity driving the consumer's decision to visit is really irrelevant. If you believe that there is inherent good in people, then you operate under the assumption that the purpose of making such a trip is not to gawk but to gain an understanding of the situation." Therefore, it should be remembered that the curiosity is not always acceptable and in the case of dark tourism motivation should be more serious.
Reference list
Baran, M. (2012) Dark tourism. Travel Weekly: The Travel Industry’s Trusted Voice [online]. 20 March 2012 [Accessed 17 April 2014]. Available at:<http://www.travelweekly.com/travel-news/tour-operators/dark-tourism/>.
Dieke, P. U. C., Robinson, P. and Heitmann, S. (ed.) (2011) Research themes for tourism. Wallingford, Oxfordshire; Cambridge, MA: CABI.
Sharpley, M. and Stone, P. R. (ed.) (2009) The darker side of travel: the theory and pactice of dark tourism. Bristol: Channel View.