One of the benefits of globalization is the expansion of the tourism sector characterized by increased tourists awareness and use of social media to acquire information. The access to information influences people's demand to visit and see fascinating and rare historical sites of catastrophes, war, and conflicts. According to Hartmann (2014, p.167), dark tourism involves traveling to sites and places that are historically linked to tragedy, death, suffering, misery, or disasters. Dark tourism is prevalent in Germany, Cambodia, Poland, and the U.S, where people visit dark places in attempts to memorialize the victims, experience the actual scene, learn the shocking realities, test self-endurance to intrigues of death, and education (Biran and Poria, 2012, p.57). Despite the criticisms of dark tourism, the sector is growing with the integration of multimedia and technology to enhance the dark interactive experience for the visitors, as well as, their ability to understand tragedy. Therefore, dark tourism has significant social benefits derived from the dark adventures of disaster, horror, and death. The opposing position is that dark tourism creates fear and curiosity for disastrous actions. The essay body provides the justifications for the social benefits of dark tourism followed by a precise conclusion and bibliography.
Dark tourism promotes positive social-emotional experience and orientation towards adverse outcomes. According to Weaver et al. (2018), emotion is influenced by the varying physical conditions and environmental factors that trigger emotional responses to stimuli. The positive or negative effects of the external stimuli on feelings affect a person's reactions to situations with similar conditions. Emotional exists in four pairs including trust vs. disgust, joy vs. sadness, surprise vs. anticipation, and fear vs. anger. For instance, emotions of anticipation may influence optimism while sadness may trigger empathy or learning. Since emotional reaction affects the individual's perception and response to similar occurrences, dark tourism may influence the development of positive emotional orientation towards danger, death, or miseries (Weaver et al., 2018). Hence, dark tourists have stronger emotional balance and reaction towards risk or disasters since they have endured the unfavorable stimuli and developed necessary response mechanisms. In counterargument, dark tourism may also trigger adverse emotional outcome on the fragile travelers. In most cases, dark tourists are individuals with theoretical information and awareness about the historical sites; this influences their desire to visit the place and have the first-hand experience (Biran and Poria, 2012, p.59). However, since not all tourists are seekers of thrill and excitement, the emotionally fragile individuals may be tormented and disturbed by the experience (Weaver et al., 2018). In rebuttal, the unfavorable emotional outcomes from dark tourism are short-term since the affected tourists quickly learn to accept the experience and build their psychological orientation. For example, the Stull Cemetery in Kansas is associated with unforgettable extreme darkness directly related to hell, ghosts, and tragedies (Busby and Devereux, 2015). However, despite the immediate negative emotional outcome, the Cemetery inspires people to embrace proper lifestyles, morality, and caution to avoid death.
Secondly, Dark tourism enhances the social education and understanding of geopolitics. According to Weaver et al. (2018, p.832), geopolitics is the study of the relationship between geography and international interactions, politics, and relations. In geopolitical studies, historical sites linked to genocides, mass murders, graves, and death camps are preferred to portray the actual political state and its impacts in the past. Additionally, the dark sites provide the factual history that enhances the tourists' perspective and understanding of the past. In Cambodia, Choeung Ek is one of the dominant dark tourism sites where thousands of prisoners were massacred (Busby and Devereux, 2015, 32). Despite the criticisms of the thousands of skulls in the place, Choeung Ek sensationalizes the unfavorable outcome of politically-inspired actions such as killing prisoners. Similarly, the site has also inspired various political organizations to formulate and implement reforms for incarceration and uphold the value of life. In counterargument, the social, educational benefits of dark tourism have significantly declined due to the recreation attempts using technology and multimedia. In this regard, the natural state that presented the danger, misery, disaster, or the darkness of places, has declined, and so are the educational benefits. According to Chang (2017), the recreation in the dark historical sites integrates dramatization into factual history to include all the elements that may be missing in the actual place. As a result, the dark sites have lost authenticity and legitimacy, while encouraging fantasy and factual experiences. In rebuttal, the recreation of the dark historical sites has limited adverse outcomes compared to the contributions in preserving the fading elements of such sites (Chang, 2017). For example, the U.S Holocaust Memorial Museum is criticized for exaggerating the educational value through recreation and multimedia. However, the museum has played a significant role in preserving the components of the dark historical sites and availing them to massive audiences and tourists.
Thirdly, dark tourism promotes the social identity of places with historical sites linked to disasters, darkness, and misery. In the scale of fame, dark tourism sites are more prominent compared to the regular sites (Biran and Poria, 2012, p.57). Even without the massive inflow of tourists, places with dark historical sites are more famous, recognized, and known in the tourism sector (Chang, 2017). In this regard, dark tourism enhances the social identity of the place, which, in turn, attracts other social and economic benefits to the societies. The sites of darkness, death, war, violence, or disasters attract massive audiences comprising researchers, thrill-seekers, and academicians. In the current developments in the recreation and multimedia, the dark historical sites are opening up to the world through literature, film, cultural expressions, and media (Kang et al., 2012, p.260). Additionally, the sites attract foreign investors seeking to recreate and preserve the darkness and utilize it in commercial activities. Therefore, the social identity derived from dark tourism empowers the tourists and the local community as they obtain distinct position and classification in the society. In counterargument, the social status derived from the dark historical sites has adverse consequences since it links the places to miseries, death, and disasters (Kang et al., 2012, p.260). In some cases, people may have a negative perception and understanding towards places identified by the existing dark sites. In rebuttal, the unfavorable social identity and attitudes attached to places with dark sites are eliminated by the fact that the disasters happened in the past (Chang, 2017). For example, the Auschwitz site in Poland is famous and source of identity for the nation. However, the status is linked to the atrocities committed by the Nazi including killing innocents through gassing, starving, and infection, and inhuman medical experiments (Kang et al., 2012). Despite the criticisms of the horrors in Auschwitz, the site has improved the identity of Poland in the tourism sector.
Conclusion
The dark tourism has significant social benefits derived from the dark adventures of disasters, horrors, and deaths. Visiting the dark historical sites promotes positive social-emotional experience and orientation towards similar outcomes. Through touring the dark places, tourists develop strong and positive emotional strength and perception towards disaster, horrifying consequences, risks, and death. Similarly, the darkness inspires people towards positive behavior, lifestyle, and morality to avoid similar miseries. Dark tourism also promotes positive social education and understanding of geopolitics as academicians and researchers access factual historical information linked to politics. Thirdly, dark tourism enhances the social identity of the places with dark historical sites. The fame and identity of nations with dark tourism influence the foreign investment, community development, education, and conservation of tourism sites. In the future, as dark tourism expands, more resources should be invested in the preservation and protection of the natural state of the dark historical sites.
References
Biran, A. and Poria, Y., 2012. Reconceptualising dark tourism. Contemporary tourist experience: Concepts and consequences, pp.57-70.
Busby, G. and Devereux, M.H., 2015. Dark tourism in context: The diary of Anne Frank. European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, 6(1), pp.27-38.
Chang, L. H. (2017). Tourists’ Perception of Dark Tourism and its Impact on their Emotional Experience and Geopolitical Knowledge: A Comparative Study of Local and Non-local Tourist. Journal of Tourism Research & Hospitality, 2017.
Hartmann, R., 2014. Dark tourism, thanatourism, and dissonance in heritage tourism management: New directions in contemporary tourism research. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 9(2), pp.166-182.
Kang, E.J., Scott, N., Lee, T.J. and Ballantyne, R., 2012. Benefits of visiting a ‘dark tourism’site: The case of the Jeju April 3rd Peace Park, Korea. Tourism Management, 33(2), pp.257-265.
Weaver, D., Tang, C., Shi, F., Huang, M.F., Burns, K. and Sheng, A., 2018. Dark Tourism, Emotions, and Postexperience Visitor Effects in a Sensitive Geopolitical Context: A Chinese Case Study. Journal of Travel Research, 57(6), pp.824-838.
