Dark tourism

I was not here the day the dark tourism seminar happened. I was away, this time for a legitimate reason. But I still find this topic quite interesting and I have quite a few points to establish whether or not they have already been thoroughly explored on Thursday.

When I first heard of the topic of Dark tourism on Wednesday, I immediately thought things that are related to the black market. Things that are completely illegal to view for various reasons, and I was actually quite concerned. Though shortly after I understood that it meant they were museums or monuments regarding past deaths or tragedy. Surprisingly, as a 14 yr old I have been to quite a few. I have visited the Jewish memorial in Berlin, and the Museum of Nanjing Massacre. They just felt like normal museums with some sort of correlation with tragedy, and I didn’t really see the problem.

These museums provide a first hand experience for learning the historical details that books or documentaries just are unable to provide. That also explain the past with tangible objects and seeing things with people’s own eyes just gives a different feeling and meaning.

They also honour the victims by providing a memorial or place to display their sacrifices. This is often seen by many people as a gesture of respect. This does successfully allow more people to generally know this historical event. This is a very interesting and respectful.

This also promotes empathy. An act or memorial such as these dark tourism sites can be seen as suggesting reflection on past mistakes and confronting injustices. Bring different people together and making sure these tragedies never happen again.

But after some more in depth analysis I could understand why some people see this as unethical or inhumane.

For a very similar reason, some people are incredibly mad. Some see the act of commercialism of suffering an incredibly disrespectful and unethical act. They feel like people profiting from other’s suffering. This has cause quite some controversies across certain platforms.

Some items on display are just discomforting, many items showcased could spark traumatic memories, or just are just disgusting in gneral. Some displayed items are preserved corpses or other items that may not be incredibly pleasing.

Over crowding of a tourist site  for many popular attraction sites likely cause infrastructure damage, since they are not just items in a glass box, they are likely to be outdoor graveyards or memorial that are likely to be damaged. However I believe that this is not a problem as it isn’t unique. Many other sites such as the Lascaux cave or bingmayong are historical sites that involve going inside the valuable sight,  yet they are kept safe with detailed regulations and protocols.

In summary, I personally believe that under regulation, crowd control, and protocol, Dark Tourism is a valid way to promote empathy, while at the same time supporting the local tourism economy.

As I have said I was not here on Thursday. These may be valid extensions, or just you may just have read the most repetitive blog yet, but either way this is my view on Dark Tourism.

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