Dark Tourism

Front Cover
Continuum, 2000 - Business & Economics - 184 pages
A large number of sites associated with war, genocide, and other tragic events have become significant tourist destinations. This book explores the reasons why people visit these sites, asking whether it is for remembrance, education, or entertainment. This book sets out to explore d̀ark tourism'; that is, the representation of inhuman acts, and how these are interpreted for visitors at a number of places throughout the world, for example the sites of concentration camps in both Western and Eastern Europe. Many people wish to experience the reality behind the media images, or are prompted to find out more by a personal association with places or events. The phenomenon raises ethical issues over the status and nature of objects, the extent of their interpretation, the appropriate political and managerial response and the nature of the experience as perceived by the visitor, their residents and local residents. Events, sites, types of visit and h̀ost' reactions are considered in order to construct the parameters of the concept of d̀ark tourism'. Many acts of inhumanity are celebrated as heritage sites in Britain (for example, the Tower of London, Edinburgh Castle), and the Berlin Wall has become a significant attraction despite claiming many victims.