The so-called travel trend of dark tourism has mystified academics and sun-seeking holidaymakers alike for years, as some travellers continue to be compelled to visit places with dark pasts instead of more traditional destinations.
From monuments to museums, areas where atrocities took place and the remains of natural disasters, tourists have been drawn to these sites that now serve as places of remembrance of lives lost and also as a reminder of what the world is capable of.
Everyone has their motives for visiting these heart-rending sites: for some, it’s confronting a part of their past or family history, and for others, it’s the immense intrigue and motivation to learn the history of an event, no matter how heinous.
Whether it’s looking upon a pile of personal belongings left behind by those killed at Auschwitz or reading the names of people who lost their lives at the 9/11 memorial, these sites remain important to those who have a personal connection to the tragedies and offer the chance for others to partake in keeping memories of those affected alive.
What is dark tourism?
The basic definition of dark tourism is visiting a place that is associated with a tragic event in history, usually surrounded by death and suffering.
However, why people would choose to spend their money or time visiting such places perplexes many, especially when most travellers would prefer to spend their annual leave sunbathing on a beach and switch off their minds, rather than confront sobering and upsetting histories.
Dr Philip Stone, who founded the Institute of Dark Tourism Research at the University of Central Lancashire in 2012, told The Independent that dark tourism chiefly portrays and commemorates “our noteworthy dead within visitor economies, through museums and exhibitions, monuments and sites, as well as visitor attractions”.
Read more: From apitourism to agritourism, unusual ways to travel ethically in 2025
“It represents tragedies or calamities for the contemporary tourist experience and the ‘difficult heritage’ that often entails,” he said. “Dark tourism is bound up in contested memory, memorialisation, and the visitor experience.”
Some people are not totally on board with dark tourism. This might be because of concern over tragic sites becoming commercialised or because it’s not how certain…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Independent Travel…