What is Dark Tourism? Origin Characteristics Examples and UPSC Relevance

IAS Current Affairs

2 years ago

Source: India Today
GS-III: Disaster and disaster management; GS IV: Ethics

Overview

Why in the News?

After the recent Wayanad landslide, Kerala Police warned about Dark Tourism.

With green hills and gushing waterfalls, Wayanad is a destination for tourists looking for some tranquillity.
The peace was, however, broken by the landslide that claimed at least 150 lives and prompted the Kerala Police to discourage dark tourism.
Kerala, which regularly promotes itself as a top tourist destination, sends a rare warning.
Kerala Police asked people to desist from dark tourism, which could hinder rescue efforts in Wayanad.

This type of tourism is where people tend to visit places associated with tragedy.
This type of tourism can include sites of natural disasters, genocides, battles, and other tragic events.
Positive Aspects
- It often serves an educational purpose.
- It helps visitors understand and reflect on historical events and their impacts.
- It can foster a deeper appreciation of history and the lessons learned from past tragedies.
Negative Aspect
- It as exploitative or insensitive.
- Ethical considerations include how sites are presented and the behaviour of visitors.
What is the reason?
- People are drawn to this for various reasons.
- This includes a fascination with history, a desire to pay respects, or a curiosity about human resilience in the face of adversity.

Scottish professors John Lennon and Malcolm Foley first coined the term dark tourism in 1996.
Since it is a part of ethics, it was much more discussed in the 21st century.
Dark tourism is also known as Black tourism, Thanatourism, and also as grief tourism.
This concept was already in ancient times as visitors from various places used to travel and visit places of tragic event occurrence.
According to research scholars, the reason behind dark tourism is nothing but curiosity, fascination and may be desire to learn and visit the place.

The core characteristic of dark Tourism is

Empathy due to Tragedy
- This happens when people are very much empathetic due to a tragic event.
- The desire to visit the places increases as people start hearing about the news.
Excitement due to Tragedy
- Ecitement is another reason behind the dark tourism.
- People started thinking about how the place should be. How does the event happen?
Emotional thinking
- Tourists will have an emotional attachment to the tragic event that happened in a particular place.
- This will be triggered while using social media, seeing the events.
Educational Value
- Many visit these sites to learn about significant historical events or tragedies, seeking to understand the impact on society.

History’s darkest chapters have become today’s must-visit destinations

In the present day, modern Europe have a number of places related to dark tourism
- Places of the Holocaust
- Important War locations
- Memorial or war heroes
- The Colosseum in Italy
In Indian historical places
- Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar
- Cellular Jail in Port Blair
- Kargil War Memorial
- Kuldhara Village in Rajasthan
Due to a tragic disaster
- The most important location is in Kerala, Wayanad.
- Union Carbide Plant in Bhopal

Behaviour of Tourist
- Most of the people took photos and reels that will be considered as an emotional problem for survivors
Commercialisation
- The commercialisation of worries of people living in that particular region if the events happened recently.
Entertainment
- For tourists, the place of occurrence is just a tragic place and a place for entertainment.
- On the other hand, those who have lost loved ones it is their life.
Impacting the rescue Efforts
- If the event happened recently the tourists visiting the place will impact the disaster rescue efforst.

Same as like other forms of Tourism in India, Dark Tourism also has significant importance

Revenue generation
- Historical dark tourism spots have a number of regional economic opportunities due to tourism
Job creation and Business
- The localised community can benefit by starting tourist-related activities and shops
- Jobs will be created in the localised place.
Infrastructure Development
- As more tourists visit the place, the regional infrastructure will develop.
- Basic Roads, transport, and communication networks also get improved.
Boost Restoration efforts
- Due to significant tourist funds accumulation, the authority develops the regions.
- Maintenance effort will increase.

This topic is relevant for

GS-1 : Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues.
- Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Cellular Jail in Port Blair, etc., are examaple
GS- II : Development processes and the development industry- the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders
GS-III: Disaster and disaster management
GS-IV: Ethics
- Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics in private and public relationships

It offers a unique way to engage with history and understand the profound impacts of tragic events.
While it can be educational and thought-provoking, it also requires sensitivity and respect for the sites and the memories they hold.

Daily Current Affairs: Click Here