These days we appear to have a rapidly growing number of niche or "fill in the blank" tourist market segments. One that I find interesting is Dark Tourism (please see also: http://www.dark-tourism.org.uk/) and related places like WWII and cold-war military sites that appear to be increasingly popular.
In the summer of 2007 I took a small group of U of I undergraduate students on a study abroad trip to Poland and as a part of that visited Auschwitz-Birkenau. That experience was moving to say the least and on the bus trip back to Krakow I don't think a word was spoken. I assume you would all agree it fits somewhere within the notion of tourism but what about the motivation to visit these sites? Have you visited such sites and if so, why and what was your reaction? What about a visit to one of the 9/11 sites? To what extent should these sites be exploited for their commercial tourist value?
I've never been to a place like what you describe. Although I as I get older I can appreciate discovering where things occured. I didn't appreciate it when I was younger. But also, no one tried to reach me on my level. It seemed so passed and I didn't understand what that meant. I had to learn history by rote memory just because. This definitely is a place for tourism as people get back to traditions and want to know how their ancestors and fallen ones lived. It's not mormid but historical. I can see that I would pretty emotional about a place like this, but I don't know that I would choose to travel to a location just because of these events, but if I happened to be there I would definitely go. I'm not sure I personally would want these destinations and memories to be advertised to the masses to the extinct that some destinations are advertised and promoted. I believe they should have the aura of respect and it bothers me to think that someone would make a lot of money from exploiting these locations and events. It's more the event than the destination. We should remember, but not let those that mistreated others become millionaires from their misdeads. But a great way to tap into the younger generation is through their social media. The next generation may have a lot more respect of our history than the boomers or x's do.
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ReplyDeleteI certainly find dark tourism to be very intriguing and I believe that others do too since the site may have affected a particular individual in some form. It could be an attempt to find out what their grandparents have experienced in order to further understand the behavior of their grandparents. Another dark tourism site that has been quite popular is to tour the underground tunnels in Vietnam in which the local army utilizes during the Vietnam War. I find that to be interesting since it is a very complex tunnel and it raises a lot of questions in regards to architecture of the tunnel even though thousands of people may have died from those events. I also don’t believe that these sites are being exploited since the site itself is still being kept for a reason. If the sites are being kept as a reminder, they might as well generate some revenue through tourism as a way to finance the cost of upkeep. I once visited Ground Zero in New York City and I didn’t find it to be offensive and I believe that it is great that it could serve us as a reminder of how dangerous it could be.
ReplyDeleteI think the motivation behind visiting several of these dark tourist sites is to learn more about what happened. I don't think that tourism is exploiting these sites. For many people, when they visit these sorts of sites, it is about learning the history of what happened and paying respect and honor to those who may have suffered.
ReplyDeleteThe closest location I have visited that I can relate to this is the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. These sorts of museums are the only way to preserve the history of what happened. With not many survivors from the Holocaust still living, if this is not preserved, then there will be nothing around to tell these people's stories. I have actually been to the museum twice. Each time I was there, it was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. It is clear that people respect these sites and go to learn more about what happened.
As for the 9/11 sites, this is now a piece of our history, regardless how dark it is. I think it also shows us how our country was able to overcome such a horrible disaster.
I was born on a military base in Germany and when I was still very young my parents took me to the Dachau concentration camps. I remember very little visually (besides a few pictures) but what I DO remember vividly is the feeling while we were there. As Dr. Wicks stated, there was an overwhelming, almost palable silence while we there that carried over for days after the visit. The same quiet reverence can be felt when visiting the footprints of the buildings at the site of 9/11. The silence is heavy, but there is also a sense of unity with everyone who is there that is unlike anything I ever expereinced before. We can all take pride in how far we've come, vowing to do all we can to ensure such tings never happen again, and respecting the personal ties that so many of us have with events such as these, but also events tied to slavery and emancipation, military battels and sacrifices for freedoms won, and so many other events.
ReplyDeleteThere is a fine very sensitive line when it comes marketing these sites as tourism destinations. As a nation, and as a human race, we have a responsibility to remember these events and make sure they are not forgotten by the younger generations who are removed from them. The biggest travesty of such horrible events would be for them to be forgotten as if they never happened - for respect and reverence to not be paid to those who rightly deserve it for their struggle or sacrifice. Encouraging visitation to historical sights is necessary, but must be done with the ultimate respect for everyone involved. I can see the viewpoints of both sides of the debate as far as positing sensitive imagery and information on social Websites such as facebook. While it may seem callous or insensitive to older generations, it is a truth that our younger generations live in the internet and without using the web, they may not be reached - and they MUST be reached.