By Ollie Cooper, Money group
Interest in a phenomenon generally known as “darkish tourism” has been steadily rising in recent years – however what’s it?
To discover out, we have spoken with tourism educational Dr Hayley Stainton and famend darkish vacationer and creator Dr Peter Hohenhaus, who runs a darkish tourism web site.
What is it?
In basic, darkish tourism entails travelling to websites linked to dying or catastrophe.
“Dark tourism has been round for so long as we now have been travelling to locations related to dying,” Dr Stainton says.
However, the time period wasn’t formally coined till 1996 by John Lennon, a professor of tourism at Glasgow Caledonian University, in Scotland.
“Not everyone seems to be acquainted with the time period,” says Dr Stainton, “[but] many individuals have been a darkish vacationer at a while or one other, whether or not intentional or not.”
Some examples of essentially the most well-known websites
- Auschwitz focus camp, Poland
- 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York, US
- Chernobyl, Ukraine
- Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan
- Choeung Ek “killing fields” and the Tuol Sleng genocide museum on the former S-21 jail in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Areas with a level of infamy, like Alcatraz, are extraordinarily standard spots that additionally fall beneath the “darkish tourism” umbrella.
How standard is it?
Dr Hohenhaus and Dr Stainton say they’ve seen an increase in its recognition.
“Tourists are on the lookout for extra distinctive and strange experiences,” Dr Stainton says.
“This has seen a transfer away from the extra conventional ‘solar, sea and sand’ kind holidays to a wide range of totally different tourism varieties, which incorporates darkish tourism.”
Dr Hohenhaus provides: “Maybe folks need to connect with extra recent and therefore extra personally related historical past – that’s positively the case with myself.”
He goes on: “I believe I’ve discovered extra in regards to the world via darkish tourism than via all of my formal training or my earlier educational profession.”
Is it moral?
This is the large query related to darkish tourism.
Dr Stainton says that whereas issues do come up, the stigma across the apply is commonly misguided.
“People do not go to websites just like the killing fields in Cambodia or the positioning of Chernobyl for ‘enjoyable’ – they go to for the tutorial expertise, as darkish tourism is commonly additionally a type of academic tourism,” she says.
Problems come up when vacationers are usually not respectful to those that might have been impacted.
“For occasion, taking inappropriate images or laughing and joking when others could also be in a state of mourning.”
Notorious examples embody folks taking selfies exterior Grenfell Tower and at Auschwitz.
“It is subsequently crucial that darkish vacationers are thoughtful of these round them and respectful always,” Dr Stainton says.
“As lengthy as you aren’t simply after an affordable sensationalist thrill – take darkish tourism critically and do it proper, and it may be an immensely enriching factor to interact in.”
Dr Hohenhaus
Where may you go?
These are Dr Hohenhaus’ suggestions:
- Ijen crater in Indonesia – the place at night time you’ll be able to see the fabled blue flames of the sulphur mines subsequent to the volcano crater lake;
- The Polygon, the previous Semipalatinsk nuclear weapons take a look at website of the USSR, now in Kazakhstan;
- The Goli Otok former jail island off the coast of Croatia;
- The Murambi memorial to the Rwandan genocide – which Dr Hohenhaus says is “definitely the very darkest place I’ve ever been”;
- Majdanek focus camp memorial close to Lublin, japanese Poland.
What do you consider darkish tourism? Is it misunderstood, academic or abhorrent? Let us know within the feedback part…
