Dark Tourism Development - Article Example

DARK TOURISM Executive summary In the recent past there has been development of the tourism industry which has been diversifying day after day. Darktourism has been one of the tourism sectors that have been developing where there has been an urge to learn about atrocities and other issues that have happening in the past. Dark camps of genocide have been some of the dark tourism sites that have continued to attract the attention of the world. One of the genocide camps is the Rwanda genocide that which reminds the world of the Rwanda genocide which happened in 1994 and in which about a million people were left dead. This dark tourism attraction sites serves an important sites that remind the world what happened in Rwanda and therefore it is a good source of learning. However there are various ethical issues that surround these camps in Rwanda Introduction The tourism sector has been one of the rapidly growing economic sectors in the world. There has been increased number of tourists who have been visiting one place to the other. The increased wave of globalization has seen the growth of tourism sector in a large number fuelled by the revolutionized modes of transport and other supportive services in the world. The growth in tourism has seen increased diversification of tourist activities in the world. From the traditional form of holiday tourism or leisure tourism which has been the main activity taking place in this sector, there has been development of other forms of tourism activities like business tourism, education tourism, medical tourism, and many other. This diversification has been increasing to the diversification of knowledge that the world has been undergoing with time. There have been other reasons that have led to the development of other forms of tourism. For example the development of cultural tourism has been shown to be due to the increased interaction of people which has increased their knowledge of culture of other communities. The increased interaction has led to development of cultural tourism as people work to learn the culture of other people. (Best and Kellner, 2001) But there has also been the development of dark tourism which is one of the most recent developments in the industry. Though it has been practiced before, it is only recently that it has started to attract the attention of the scholars who have been trying to unravel the mystery behind the boom in dark tourism. There has been increased travel to sites which have been considered horrible earlier and which had been avoided by many people for long time. (Henderson, 2000) What is dark tourism' Dark tourism has been defined as the act of traveling and visiting sites, attraction and exhibition which has in the past been associated with death, suffering or macabre which is seen as their main theme. This is tourism of areas that are considered to have beet main cites on atrocities, disasters, death and other forms of suffering for the human race. There have been increased travels to the death fields of Cambodia, to the Katrina site, to Darfur death regions, and to other sites that are historically considered to have been sties of what is considered negative to the society. (Seaton, 1999) Death, atrocities, and disasters in form of tourist attraction are becoming pervasive features in the tourism landscape. There have been increasing number of people who have been applying to travel to former sites of war and battles, where there has been organized violence leading to loss of life, and other areas. It is like organized violence is being brought back to life by tour guides who give account of heroes, tragedy and other personal experiences like torments when the actual event was happening. There have been increase visit of Ground Zero which marks the site of mass murder and carnage of terrorism activity of September 11, Orleans sites of Katrina, Gulags of the Soviet Union former genocide sites like in Rwanda, Auschwitz-Birkenau or the killing fields of Cambodia and many other sites which were earlier horrible event to mention. (O'Donoghue, 2002) The development of dark tourism The development of dark tourism can be traced to many years ago although it has gained importance in the recent past due to the economic advantage that has been linked with such an activity. In terms of history, there have been a sense of visiting sites of death and disaster even in the past but which was done as a way of trying to come with what had happened in the past and to bring a sense of commonness and togetherness as a result of the past. (Sharpley, 2005) These sties have also been used in history as way of showing to the public what is good fro the society and what is bad for the society as well. In this case public entertainment and presentation of death fro retribution and for the purpose of public intimidation has been practices throughout our history and in the contemporary societies. (Smith, 1998) In the past there was the use of public death as a punishment for crimes. But his has been decreasing in the recent past and there has been a development of a more practical criminal justice system in the world. For the last three centuries or so, there has been increased withdrawal of death from the scenes of the public which has continued to increase death-related mysticism and the deep-rooted fascination among most common members of the same society. (Makku, 2008) According to some of the earlier scholars who had done research on the work like Lennon and Foley, dark tourism has been there in the past but it has resurfaced in the recent past due to the effect of the evolving society. They view dark tourism as an intimidation of the post-modernity which means that events and places in history which have been turned to become tourism attractions with an aim of trying to recapture what happened in the past. In this case they have tried to look into some of the issues that have never been answered in our history. For example many cannot comprehend why the titanic which was considered to be built on a superior technology since only after taking more than 1500 passenger with her. Still there are others who cannot comprehend why Martin Luther King Jnr. Who was a defender of peace, equality and modern thinking assassinated' What about the atrocities that led to the civilized and culture society of Germany led by the Nazi regime murder 1.6 million Jews in the course of the Second World War' (Urry, 1995) Still who can explains the recent mass murder of more that a million Rwandans in an ethnic violence in a period of 3 months only. And in the course of the murder, where was the United Nations and its western supporters when the atrocities was happening' Is the reason that they gave that Rwanda was just a small unknown nation enough to justify that loss of life' Should some of these events be happening in modern world where we presume to be so much civilized and culture' This is the source of the curiosity and interest that all of us want to see and learn how all that happened. After all there is still a question of can we feel safe if this is happening to human beings like us' These are some of the most inquisitives issues that have been driving people to some of these sites. Every one has that urge to know what happening and how did it happen. If we take an example of Rwanda, the whole atrocity happened in the eyes of the international community. Why was there no intervention to it' What can be done in the future in order to avoid the repetition fo something of sort' There for there is the educative element that guides us to become more inquisitive on the issue. According to our earlier definition by Stone and the above review that we have done, we are left with some questions that are hard to define in their present context. We are left to wonder whether dark tourism is demand driven by the need to unravel what happened in the past or if it is led by supply-driven allure to have more destinations and money or is it a combination of the two. According to Stone, this can only be explained by the different approaches that have been taken on the issue of dark tourism and the difference categorization that has been created. In this paper we are going to review the dark camps of genocide which has been some of the most attractive sites. Dark camps of genocide These have been described by stone as some of the darkest tourism attraction following his framework. They represent sites and places where there have been genocides, atrocities, and catastrophes. These have been shown to be the main thanatological theme and therefore they occupy the darkest edge of his spectrum. Genocide sites are sites where there have been mass murders of human beings. Mass murder has been one of the most atrocities that have been committed in the history of the world. Genocide sites are not that common in the world but they do exist in places like Rwanda, Cambodia, and Kosovo. Most of those sites do not exist for touristic consumption but are macabre in the external although they offer very much limited interpretation of the site. (Lennon and Foley, 2000) Dark sites of genocide have been one of the leading attractions of tourists. There have been delegations that have been sent by the government in order to help to understand how it all happened and help such a nation to avoid such happening in its own country. They have been shown to provide emotional experience when visitors see the sites of mass murder. (David, 2005) Therefore one of the most important reasons why there is a flow of tourist to these sites is in order to learn how the whole even happened. There is an idea of experiencing through learning and seeing what actually happened. Most of the genocides are committed due to hatred and therefore there is an aspect of wanting to establish the root cause of such hatred. (MacCannell, 1992) Dark genocide sites have also been shown to be a way of showing the great human suffering that human being have been undergoing through in the course of their history. In this regard, there is need to understand how those who survived the ideal went through in the course of the atrocity. They attempt to narrate the tales of human suffering and abuse of human rights. (Walsh, 1992) They are also a good source of political ideology that could have led to the mass murder of the victim. For example the Rwanda genocide site also contain a lot of information that try to tell the political difference the existed in the country prior to the murder which came as an ethnic conflict. Auschwitz-Birkenau will go a long way to tell not only about the atrocity that was committed to the Jews, but it will also show the political atmosphere that led to the hatred of Jews and the consequent killing of the Jews. These two cites can actually given an idea of symbolic imagination of what was happening at that time and what led to the massive loss of life. (Miles, 2002; Schwabe, 2005) In most of the society where such atrocities happened, there has been the institutionalization of the memories which is very well reflected in the sites. They try to tell of what happened in the past that we don't need to forget. In this case it can be shown through the fact that what our fathers could have felt about the Holocaust is not the same way that you can be feel about it and it is not the same way the future generation will tell about it. Therefore these sites acts as a bride between eh present and the future and tells us of what we don't have to forget in our history. They pass the message "least we forget" on the evils that have taken place in the world. For example when you to Rwanda, there has been a careful presentation of the human heads which acts to remind anyone who visits the sites that this is what happened. These clean skulls communicate to anyone who visit that site that this happened to those people and it can as well happen to use if we don't take care or if we don't live to handle similar situations that led to the genocide. But most important is the fact that they ensure that we don't forget the evil that happened in the past. (Reader, 2003) If Rwandans had buried the heads of those victims, the genocide would have been forgotten long time ago. The process of healing would have taken place more effectively without the sight of those skulls since the skulls will always remind you of the loved ones whom you lost. But if those who experienced the genocide have a memory of what happened and can do everything to avoid repetition of such an event, what about the future generation' Will they have anything to learn about the past atrocities that have been committed to humans by the same society where they belong to' What about the international community' What could have convinced someone better that the Rwanda genocide actually happened despite their response that Rwanda was a small country that was not known to the world. (Stone, 2005a) Sites of genocide have been given a particular intention by the media as well. It has been shown that the media try to pay close attention to these sites in their coverage. Despite the fact that the same media could have led to the happening of the atrocity, there is increased inference to these sites by the media which shows a pattern of over emphasis on these sites as compared to others. The media has been giving a much wider coverage to these sites as compared to other particulars due to the interest that they tend to create from the public since they represent important events in our history. There are various ethical dilemmas that however are associated with these dark camps of genocide. Though they have an important role that they play in the life of the people, there are various ways in which they also affect of they hurt the feelings and infringe the beliefs of the people. If we take our case study, the Rwanda Genocide, how would you feels as an individual to be visiting the skull of your relative from time to time' Is it ethically correct to be seen the skulls of your loved one' Though this feeling of pity and grief may go always with time in some people, it may stay for long time in others. In this case some may live with emotional sufferings which they will find hard to overcome. They may not find it easy to be seeing the remains of their loved ones. But it has to be there in order to help the future generation to know of the atrocities that were committed against human race in the world. (Thompson, 2007; Immaculee, 2007) What about the money that is collected from these sites' Does it go to help the poor Rwandans who are ravaging in poverty after the effects of the genocide' How do they find it knowing that there is money that is collected from the remains of their loved ones' If we take the example of the Holocaust, does this money go to help the Jews since it was their fathers and mother who perished in the holocaust' How do they feel when they know that Germany is making money from their grief' These are some of the ethical issue that revolves around the economic gains from these dark camps of genocide. But as we said before these sites have to be there in order to remind the world of what happened in the past and in order to avoid it from happening again. (Stone, 2005b) The media has also been giving what can be considered as hyper attention to these sites at the expense of other. In this case there is a moral issue on whether this is the best way to address the plight of the genocides. When the genocide was happening in Rwanda there was less media coverage that what it has been doing recently. This leaves use with a moral question on the credibility of the media on the coverage. Why are they giving these sites so much attention now' What is portrayed in their coverage' Some of the media coverage has given these sites and their countries like Rwanda a negative picture in the world. Conclusion Dark tourism has been developing fast in the recent past. This has been prompted by the increased interest to dig into what happened in the past. Dark camps of genocide have been some of the most dark tourism sites that have been developing very fast in the recent past. These sites tell of the atrocities that happened in the future and systematically analyze the political ideologies and other factors that could have led to the commitment of such atrocities on human beings. These genocide camps are classified in the extreme as they show the worst atrocity that can be committed to human. However they serve an important function in education and also as a reminder to the coming generation of what happened in the past. For example Rwanda Genocide camps have been used to show how political and ethnic difference can led to massive loss of life. However they have been surrounded by ethical issue as far as it pertains to making money from these sites. Reference Best, S. & Kellner, D. (2001). The postmodern adventure. London: Rutledge David, C. (2005). The killing fields. Oxford university Henderson, J. C. (2000). War as a tourist attraction: the case of Vietnam. International Journal of Tourism Research, Vol. 2, 269-280. Immaculee, L. (2007). 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