DARK TOURISM

Dark Tourism



Dark Tourism

Introduction

Tourism refers to the principles of travelling for fun and pleasure. People all over the world have a common habit of travelling and roaming all over the world, just to visit places of their choice and interests. The special interest tourism discussed in this paper is “Dark Tourism”. Tourism involves a wide range of destinations and several forms of travel. Dark tourism that falls under tourism is derived from a Greek word “thanatos” and is also known as grief tourism or black tourism. Many people perceive dark tourism as a new concept and a new category of tourism, however many argue that this form tourism has been present since a long time and has been a part of human lives from the time they started to develop and create new ways of fun and leisure. This report tends to cover the characteristics, the distinctive features, motivators for the tourists, future growth and the negative and positive impacts of this type of tourism.

Discussion

Dark tourism has led to a new experience for people who prefer unusual adventure indifferent from regular and everyday lives.

Characteristics of Dark Tourism

It is a niche and a unique type of tourism which involves visits of places and localities where historically noteworthy death and tragedies have taken place. It has become quite evident during the last decade that this form of tourism has gained an immense amount of popularity and attention. It has been argued that there are two probable causes of dark tourism.

Many suggest that sites of death trigger a rapid growth and some suggest that war incidents and allied product likely lead to an increase in this category of tourism. Tourists who prefer dark tourism often view jailhouses, haunted houses and graveyards etc, as their favourite tourist spots (Avital .et.al, n.d, pp. 831). It is quite certain to say that visiting sites of disaster and death has evolved into a common worldwide phenomenon; however the demand for this category of tourism spots is quite versatile. Apart from the matter of death, many argue that the desire for entertainment, history and interest in culture are the most common reason why people like to opt for this field of tourism.

One of the most important forms of characteristic of dark tourism is that it is considered to be very unique. It is one of a kind. The reason what makes it unique is because people do not opt for dark tourism to view scenic, architectural, cultural or traditional beauty, however they visit sites that are related to deaths, massacres and natural disasters etc. the intention of the tourists is not to view the God gifted beauty, however it is to enjoy an unusual adventures. The form of tourism is termed as a behavioural tourism, as it requires traveller's motives instead of attempting to explain the salient features of the site. It is generally considered to be a dangerous form of tourism, as visitation sites often include graveyards and dangerous places, which tends ...