What´s Dark Tourism?

"Cannibal Tours" by Dennis O 'Rourke made me rethink my view of tourism. Whereas before I thought tourism could be a good way for people from different cultures to learn about each other, I now consider, it is necessary for tourists to show local people as they are here, to gain knowledge about villagers and give them knowledge of where tourists came from. Both parties should learn about each other culture, rather than taking pictures of what fascinates tourists the most. From “Cannibal Tours” I experienced, often we criticize another culture for being behind with technology, education and their way of thinking. For instance, in the film, it was clear that tourist and primitives had two different acts, first, an act of taking photographs of primitives, second an act of bargaining for second or third price. Tourists take a lot of advantage of weaker people and try to transform their way of life. After I watched the film, it made me think about the impact tourists have inflicted on the local people of New Guinea and their ways of life as their culture is slowly wearing away because of the invasion of tourists.

In “The Ugly Tourist” by Jamaica Kincaid, tourism is thought as a disgusting and an extremely harmful industry. In her perspective, it allows first world citizens to escape and marvel at the simplest and most ordinary things. Although there is some truth in what Jamaica Kincaid describes to the reader, I believe there is a prejudiced view towards the tourist themselves. Kincaid’s essay about the ugliness and affects of being a tourist contrasts everything I’ve experienced being a tourist in Italy and Greece.

There are the tourists—those who seek temporary relaxation, or famous sights. There are the travelers—those who wander, without aim, for the love of moving. There are the explorers—those seeking adventure, the thrill of unearthing things rarely seen.

Gillian Dale (2010). Travel and Tourism level 3 Book 1. Oxford: Pearson Education Limited. 122-124.

In this assignment I will be describing the different types of specialist tourism as well as providing examples for each of the types of tourism.

There are multiple reasons on why people visit these tourist destinations, but the author feel that the main reason that people go to dark tourism is because of the emotional feeling. Stones states “a dark experience requires empathy/emotion” (579 Stone). The main idea is that it create emotions of the people who are experiencing dark tourism. Dark tourism bring an entire new perspectives that which most people have forgotten about death. People don’t have a strong relationship towards death because it almost hidden away in modern society. People are focusing on other things around them. For example the authors says “ Consequently modern ideology espouses a celebration of life and living, amplified by a post-modern focus on youth… thoughts of death…are repressed” (Stone 582). The ways in modern society cover death is by “absent death privatization of meaning, the medicalization of dying and the professionalization of the death”. (Stone 585). When people think of death towards medical they don’t really think about because they think it’s for science department. While for the funeral department people don’t really think about death because in the modern world people are becoming less religious. Yet the world is still interested towards death. Stones points out that “pervasive feature in the popular cultural landscape … it may be considered fascinating, educational or even humorous” (Stone 585). It shows that dark tourism combines all of these factors that would want for the general public to be involve which causes dark tourism to

The progression of technology and its presence in society has strongly molded the way people live their lives today, and the way they will continue to live their lives years from now. But with this advancement of science and increased order, there is a consequence that seems to be a heavy price to pay: the loss of human emotion and freewill, and the submission to organization and commands. The tourist industry is one such manufactured machine, so to speak, that influences people's views in certain aspects. One of these aspects, culture, is a main focus of post-modernist writer Bryan Turner, who believes that "tourism invents and demands empathy...makes cultures

This chapter reinforces schwartz argument that tourism has a tremendous impact on society. She writes of how citizens were coming up with ways that made them seemed more exotic, in order to attract more tourists. One example Schwartz writes about is the Siboney Sun Worshipers. These people claimed to be aboriginal Siboney Indians, and would performed a sun ritual that tourists highly enjoyed. Schwartz explains, that Cuba’s original Indians had been completely wiped out by diseases brought by the Spanish, and the island’s Indians never had a ritual of the sun. Her main point in this chapter is to demonstrate that when tourism becomes an important aspect of a country, everything changes. Residents along with the government soon adapt cultural aspects, trying to promote uniqness and exotism that will make them look more attractive to

Miles (2002) suggests that a ‘darker-lighter tourism paradigm’ does indeed exist. He argues there is a distinction between ‘dark’ and ‘darker’ tourism, that is, a greater notion of the macabre and the morose can exist between sites. Miles proposes there is a crucial difference between sites associated with death and suffering, and sites that are of death and suffering. Thus, according to Miles the product and experience at the death camp site at Auschwitz-Birkenau is conceivably darker than the one at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC. (Stone, 2006)

Throughout my academic career, I have taken courses in Research Methods, Public Policy, International Relations and Politics and History of Alternative Tourism. Through this coursework, I have learned the importance

As mentioned by Rimmington & Morrison (2009), the assistance from different parts of the world presents a new and diverse outlook for future research including theoretical innovations and revelations, cultural and environmental aspects, tourist destination and other ecotourism and recreational aspects of tourism and hospitality industry (Brotherton,

Palmer and Lester state that Cannibal Tours is a “critique of a western mind-set that continues to be fascinated by the primitive Other.” Due to the nature of the film, it is impossible not to approach Cannibal Tours through the lens of critical tourism. Concerned with ideology and power relations, critical tourism can be applied to Cannibal Tours as it highlights the colonizing gaze of cultural tourists visiting the Sepik River to encounter the exotic, wanting to observe people that are different from themselves.

Slum tourism is becoming an emerging trend now, especially in developing countries. In fact, it has become one of the fastest growing market in the tourism industry. One of the reasons for that is due to the expansion of slum in developing countries. Frenzel et al., (2015) argue that as the number of locations has increased in the past 20 years, so has the number of tourists participating in slum tourism. They then presented a graph on the rise of slum tourism and the estimated numbers of tourists per year. It all begins in the 90s, where South Africa and Brazil had first developed slum tourism. It then moves to North America, where Mexico was involved in around 1995. During the early 20s, the expansion of countries arrived in Asia. The number of slum tourist destinations has continued increased and has later transformed into a type of tourism. This indeed could generate income especially with developing countries that are heavily rely on tourism. As Frenzel (2013) states that slum tourism could contribute to development by creating a variety sources of income and non-material benefits. These benefits are not actually benefiting the community but acts as a form of exploitation instead. As a result, this paper argues how slum tourism is being portrayed as a form of exploitation through poverty, the ethics in participating in slum tourism and how it does not lead to economic development.

Retention of Visitor spending: The key to achieving economic sustainability for tourism in (i.e. California and Giants Causeway) is maximising the economic retention of tourist spending in your local economy. The sustainable tourism businesses need to develop strategies that are capable of meeting the long-term economic needs and aspirations of the local community. If the communities are engaged by tourism organisations as stakeholders in tourism, and economic partners in the tourism industry, this will actively support local tourism businesses. Tourism is a rapidly growing industry and has far-reaching economic and environmental impact across the destinations; hence, if tourism is an important source of local employment and a significant

“So you want to be a travel agent?” This is a question I am frequently asked when I tell people I am studying tourism. Tourism affects almost every industry, from land development to fishing, from recreation to hospitality. Interestingly enough, very few people understand what a career in tourism actually involves. Not only is it a vital source of income for many stakeholders, tourism has the potential to impact virtually everyone. Furthermore, it involves a lot more than travel and leisure, despite the common perception of tourism as the “happy industry”.