It’s incredible to consider that America as the world knows it today was established almost 247 years ago. While the US has influenced international culture through western media & cinema, democratic-led government, and economic trade policies, they are surpassed by various cultures with centuries worth of history and ancestral lore. As someone who has had the privilege to travel abroad, I can attest that visiting historical landmarks in other countries has a noticeable heaviness to it. While it can be disturbing to visit cemeteries or the remnants of concentration camps, the general atmosphere from those who visit such places holds nothing but quiet consideration and even curiosity.
From what I have researched so far and finding that there are mostly positive impacts that tourism has on the community, there isn’t much vocal opposition or negativity towards dark tourism. The question of concern, however, is instead on the extent of an individual’s interest in dark tourism. How far will someone go in the name of being a ‘dark tourist?’ From a 2013 post about dark tourism, Blogger Ruth Stokes pondered over a then recent headlined event that raised questions about extreme behavior. Dark tourist Toshifumi Fujimoto had been spotted vacationing in the Syrian war zone, and was known to post photos that can be labeled macabre. Counter-arguing the idea of tourism being positive, Stokes observes,
“…the victims of disasters don’t always take kindly to tourists witnessing their grief, or travel companies profiting from their loss. A case in point is the reaction in October 2012 from the residents of a New Orleans neighbourhood badly affected by Hurricane Katrina to tourists in the area – having put up with tours since the disaster in 2005, they took a stand” (Stokes 2013).
After considering the different environments of dark tourism sites, severity of the traumatic event, and the timeline of when it impacted the community, the question of “in bad taste” ultimately has to be considered. For example, Pompeii was an event that happened thousands of years ago, and therefore holds more historical significance for those that visit it. There is certainly an unspoken demand for respect and mourning as visitors gaze upon the molds of the townspeople in their last moments. If that kind of volcanic eruption were to have happened within the last couple of years -similar to the devastating event on New Zealand’s Whakaari island in late 2019- to visit there now in the same manner as visiting Pompeii would most likely be considered inappropriate. Why would it be inappropriate? Two possible answers that can be reasonably drawn is the relevant community members close to the victims and the climate of the impact on the community. With families that are grieving and possible aide that would be issued to where the event occurred, tourism would be the last thing anyone impacted would want.
With constant consideration of the circumstances in which a dark tourist has set their destination, Tourism Concern’s Rachel Noble offers advice that would benefit any dark tourist wanting to steer clear of offending the social and cultural values of a foreign country. Noble states, “…always do your homework, understand what context you’re entering into and how your presence might be perceived by the survivors of the tragedy” (Stokes 2013). Communication is an emphasized trait of this information community, and in the case of visiting international dark tourist sites, is a trait worth taking seriously.
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Stokes, R. (2017). Can dark tourism ever be a good thing? New Internationalist, https://newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2013/01/21/dark-tourism
(This post was originally published as “blog #6” for my INfo 200 course on information communities)
The Shadow Route 