Is There a Place for Dark Tourism in Your Destination?

What is Dark Tourism, anyway?

Dark Tourism refers to the tourism involving sites of tragedy. This may be a recent growth area for the travel industry but it's not a new phenomenon. You can trace this as far back as the Dark Ages, pilgrims were travelling to tombs and sites of religious martyrdom. The Battle of Waterloo in 1815 was observed by nobility from a safe distance and one of the earliest battlefields of the American Civil War (Manassas) was sold the next day as a visitor attraction site. One of the most notorious destinations for dark tourism is the Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz in Poland. More recently, Ground Zero in New York has become an essential part of the tourist itinerary for many visitors. Presently however, Dark Tourism is manifested in various forms and subsets. These include Holocaust Tourism, Battlefield Tourism, Cemetery Tourism, Slavery-Heritage Tourism and Prison Tourism. It is only recently that Dark Tourism, in its variety of shades, has become widespread and seemingly more popular.


It makes one wonder why these sites so popular. The motivations of visitors are murky and often difficult to unravel. There may be a mix of reverence, voyeurism and maybe even the thrill of coming into close proximity with death. It is important for sites to guard against the voyeuristic and exploitative streak that may overtake the primary motivation to increase revenue and generation. The operators of these diverse sites have become the custodians of history, and this carries with it certain responsibilities. Which parts of history do you choose to interpret and commemorate? How can this be done in an appropriate manner? This is where the expertise of a tourism consultant comes into play.


If your destination has the potential to participate in this form of tourism, it would be in the best interest of the visitors, the industry, and the community to thoroughly research areas such as the role of the media and the wider socio-cultural influences upon Dark Tourism consumption with appropriate scholars. That is the best way to determine what is acceptable and unacceptable as a tourist attraction.