‘Dark tourism’ is a travel trend that has been gaining popularity since the early 1990s, when the term was originally coined. From Ground Zero to the abandoned city of Pripyat in Chornobyl's Exclusion Zone (the choice to use the Ukrainian spelling of Chornobyl is deliberate), dark tourist sites across the globe have recently seen a sharp rise in number of visitors, mostly thanks to the popularisation of TV shows and movies depicting real disasters. One such TV show is the critically-acclaimed 'Chernobyl', which explores the 1986 accident at Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Whilst many tourists value the opportunity to immerse themselves in historical hardships through exhibitions and visits to dark sites, others question the ethicalness of the dark tourism industry.
For most people, being able to visit the site of an ancient catastrophe presents a chance to learn about the world we live in and the events which have shaped it. There is no doubt however that we as humans have a morbid fascination with all things grizzly and gruesome. As a result, the lines between education and voyeurism have become blurred within dark tourism.
There is no shame in being fascinated by death and destruction; I myself had a tricky time trying to convince my French teacher to squeeze in a visit to the catacombs on a school trip to Paris a few years ago. What matters most is how tourists behave in order to show respect for the dead, as well as those affected by tragedy.
In recent years, complaints about visitors posing for inappropriate selfies at sites such as Auschwitz-Birkenau have become the most common criticism about the behaviour of tourists. There is no denying that social media has encouraged the poor conduct of tourists at sites where they are expected to show respect for the dead.
Perhaps the most disturbing example of inappropriate conduct in sensitive locations on social media is thanks to Youtuber Logan Paul. In 2018, Paul filmed a newly deceased man at the famous Aokigahara ‘suicide’ forest in Japan. Footage of Paul posing in front of the corpse was uploaded to his channel which had over 15 million subscribers at the time, many of them young children.
It is not just the behaviour of the tourists themselves which casts doubt upon the morality of dark tourism; many view the industry as capitalising off the deaths and suffering of millions of people.
Lots of dark tourism attractions, such as the London Dungeons, set up tours with live actors and themed rides in a bid to become more mainstream; it could be said that the authenticity of the site is being lost as a result. Nevertheless, many companies who own dark tourism sites donate a percentage of their profits to charities who work to preserve the site and raise awareness, such as the mine tours in Potosí, Bolivia.
A visit to the site of a historical disaster is a profound and educational experience for many tourists, who generally treat the site with the respect and humility it deserves. While some question the ethics of the industry, it is important that dark tourism exists otherwise moments in history that have impacted the modern world could be lost.
