The acceptance of ‘death’ as a concept that scares most people is generally unacceptable to people. Even talking about death is considered taboo by many. However, when the amalgamation of death, tragedies, heritage, and history are blended with tourism, the notion of dark tourism arises.
The ‘dark’ in dark tourism refers to tragedies within the realm of tourism. In the genre of dark tourism, the phenomenon of suffering, death, and disturbing sites are displayed. It’s a distinct kind of tourism that doesn’t exactly appeal to the whole crowd. Even though it plays a huge role in providing facts about some incidents which took place in the past and helps in the delivery of the information to the present world, there are various questions with respect to why people even consider visiting this dark side of humanity.
The fascination in dark tourism arises from a blend of sociocultural and biological elements. It can take place when people want to do something unusual rather than their ordinary daily routines. For example, ‘Niche Tourism’ is a term used to describe the expansion and development of a new kind of interest. Dark tourism is one of the types of tourism which people explore in order to try something out of the box and thus, may find it appealing. Like, some tourists acquaint themselves with unpleasant non-personal events just for the thrill of it. So, if dark and tragic things interest someone, they might indulge in dark tourism.
Sometimes, people get motivated to do dark tourism as they link the past tragedy to a phenomenological meaning in their own lives. For instance, they visit a tragic or violent site so they can connect themselves with the death of someone else, and that helps in the integration of their own thoughts with how death hasn’t occurred to them yet. Dark tourism is also said to attract a crowd because of the ‘reality check’ that the site holds. The motivation lies in the matter of believing the facts once you see them.
While visiting a dark attraction, various emotions emerge as well. For instance, during a visit to a battlefield feelings of compassion, empathy, and gratitude arise in the visitor’s mind for the victims and their families. A lot of times, the dark attraction site also becomes a symbol of national identity which can lead to feelings of pride and superiority within the visitor.
The motivation behind traveling to these places also includes the factor of finding oneself. The amenability to learn about different cultures pushes people to explore and perform risky acts in order to fulfill their curiosity. For example, if someone wants to ascertain the greatest known war of the Hindu culture (Mahabharata), they might visit the sites in Kurukshetra, in present-day Haryana. The dark tourist attractions are maintained by local ethnic communities which leads to the reproduction of original and authentic accounts of the site, making people motivated to visit the sites more and more.
In the context of dark tourism, it is understandable that people have peculiar methods of learning about history. For instance, museums are the physical example of teaching about history but a lot of times, it cannot be accessible to the whole crowd. Therefore, documentaries are developed, exhibitions are held, and tourist sites are created.
In addition to gaining knowledge, people endure and provide knowledge by learning from various sources in order to teach the present world about past events. Therefore, a lot of times people shift to dark tourism as it is a unique way to learn about tragic events. Usually, reading about these kinds of events can be overwhelming but if these places are visited, it can motivate people to follow dark tourism.
It is important to know that the motivation of ‘gaining knowledge’ is as imperative as the other motivations. People usually judge others who visit dark tourism sites but they don’t think for a second about ‘why’ people visit these kinds of sites, and it is moral of the society members to wonder about the motivations which pull people towards dark tourism.
Muskaan Kashyap
