Conclusion for my project - Essay Example

Section Rationale, Aims and Objectives. The Demand for Dark Tourism in Prague Rationale According to Coles and Timothy (2002:32), dark tourism, dark tourism refers to tourism that involves visitors travelling to sites associated with tragedy, death and all bad calamities. Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic is a rich centre of the dark tourism. However, what drives people to like scenes of death and tragedy? Yuill (2003:4) indicated that there is always a fascination in people when it comes to issues related with tragedy.

An ideal example is when there is an accident at a spot on the road and other travellers have to always slow or stop their cars to get a first-hand account of what happened. Dark tourism therefore has a history which attracts both history makers and curious people to these sites of history. Looking at Prague, The Church of SS Cyril and Methodius are good historical sites and these two have been voted as the best tourist destinations in the Czech Republic leave alone the aspect of being in Prague (Hannam & Knox, 2010, p. 28). This is because they acted as a refuge centre for assassins of ReichsprotektorHeydrich.

In these places, the Germans outnumbered their enemies forcing them (enemies) to take their own lives by shooting themselves. That was in 1942 during the Second World War (Martina, 2011, p. 79). The two names centres are not the only ones in Prague that contribute to its tourism. Apparently the increased demand dark tourism has been boosted by the number of dark tourism centres in Prague. This is because the more the number of dark tourist centres, the richer the history of the town. Some other centres in the town that must have an applied history that is need knowledge for so many people are:Pragues Bloody HeartSpooky ChurchOut the WindowViews to a KillHouse of MysteryThe Worst Room in PragueDue to this, the statement of the research question would be that; the many dark tourism centres in Prague contain a rich history of past happenings and therefore have increased the demand for dark tourism in the town.

AimThe aim of this research is to relate the history contained in each of the dark tourism centres to the increased demand in dark tourism in Prague. This is because each centre has got its own history and there are also different types of tourists that visit the place for their knowledge. ObjectivesThe objectives of this study are quite diverse:i. To identify the number of dark tourism sites in Pragueii. To identify the historical aspects related to existence of these sitesiii. To identify the distribution of these centres in the towniv.

To find out the origins of the tourists to these sitesv. To relate factors identified in parts I-IV to demand in the dark tourism industry in Prague. It is therefore important that the ability of the sites to attract tourists must be indicated as a cause for the increased demand of the tourists in Prague. The reason for choosing this research topic is that dark tourism is a fast-growing niche of the global tourism market. There is a lot of potential in this niche market because people will be always fascinated and curious about morbid things and events so a town or city that exploits this potential stands to gain a lot of tourism dollars in this regard.

This is the new trend in the global tourism industry and it is not a well-developed sub-niche that shows a particular niche market that can be developed further by tourism officials. Further, there are just few research papers on the topic of dark tourism and so this research study is a contribution towards the goal of developing this potential to its fullest. Like the previous trend of eco-tourism, dark tourism is one way to develop tourism especially if a town or city has just very few exciting natural sceneries to offer domestic and foreign tourists but instead has lot of old sites, castles, former prison or concentration camps, execution squares, and dungeons as alternatives sites worthy to visit and spend their tourism dollars.

Academic literature is also very few on this niche of the tourism industry and new research on this niche can be very helpful indeed. The forecast demand and growth potential of dark tourism is very optimistic with people always attracted by a morbid curiosity to see and perhaps re-experience the tragedy and death of the deceased people associated with dark sites; people want to re-create the grief of people. Section 2: Literature Review Dark tourism is a phenomenon that has elements of post-modern, modern, and ancient horrific incidents.

Dark tourism is any kind of travel associated with disaster, the macabre or death in a commercial form. Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic is one of the richest centers of dark tourism in Europe. Considering some of the horrific incidents from the past, it has established a number of sites with different interesting mysterious historical death stories. Examples of these dark tourist sites are Astronomical clock, spooky churches, out of the window, house of mystery and the worst room (Burmon, 2010).

Astronomical clock It is an ancient dark tourist-attraction clock situated on the south wall of the ancient Town City Hall. Beside the clock is a skeleton that represent demise among gothic sculpture. Behind the astronomical clock is a horrific story of its creator. Jan Ruze, the creator of the clock is alleged to have been lynched horrifically. His eyes were gouged from their socket in order to stop him from creating a similar clock marvel around Europe (Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, 1998). Having no sight, he toppled himself into the clock wheels, rendering it functionless.

Since then, the clock stopped working at his instant death for 100 years. It is due to this incident that the apostle seems to adorn the clock to date. After the clock’s dysfunction for over 100 year, Mikulas of Kadan and Jan Sinde formulated the astronomical dial and mechanics of the clock. To date the ticking clock is incredibly still in place and attracting dark tourists (Huyssen, 2003). Spooky church Despite the fact that most people do not associate churches with macabre, St. James the Greater proves to be the creepiest church in Prague.

A thief‘s hand is believed to have been chopped off by a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary and which made him unable to walk. Worst, the chopped hand still hangs in the church.Out of the window It is an ancient site where the first victims of defenestration were lynched. For instance, Jan Zelivsky was lynched and thrown out via the window of the building. It is believed that the survivors were beaten to death. In the same incident, Tomas Masaryk was mysteriously found dead under his bathroom in 1948.

He was murdered by communist loyalists then thrown out of his house via the window. House of mystery Faust’s house is located on the southern end of the square in which sinister event occurred in 1724. A man named Ferdinand Antonin Mladota bought the house after it had been in possession from many owners. Edward Kelly first bought the house in 1590. However, the most mysterious happenings took place after Ferdinand’s bought the house. Apparently, with his many mishap and convectional science experiments, he blew off the house roof, and eventually succumbed to the injuries incurred from the incident.

The worst room in Prague It is a historic prison called Prague Pankrac. Inside the prison are skeleton, probably human, belonging to victims who died because of police brutality during the Nazi regime. The horrific gallows that Nazi police used to hand people was found in this house. It is believed that 155 women and 920 men were either hanged or guillotined in three special cells commonly known as Sekrarna within the house. To date, the Sekrarna are part of the Pankrac memorial and is occasionally opened to the public (Hallas, 2007).

Purposes of the dark tourist sites Apart from tourist attraction, dark tourist sites serve a number of purposes. Generally, dark tourism has proved to be a generator of artwork. Through the historic political and social trauma, the public have identified an outstanding way to utilize and develop their artwork skills via artistic constructions. For instance, creating monuments depicting historic traumatic incidences such as skull carvings and statues displays extreme artistic wealth. The guerilla art group of Prague is embracing the idea in order to celebrate past and honor lives of past artists (Lennon & Malcolm, 2010).

Historic sites serve as visual representation of the contemporary witnesses to horrific events and collective trauma in the past. For example, in the ‘Worst room in Prague’ skulls act as a contemporary representation of the brutal executions that happened in the prison during Nazi occupation. Similarly, by those representations, the traumatic occurrences in the past can be commemorated through dark tourism. Furthermore, dark tourism is exceptionally perceived as a medium for conveying cultural heritage and ethical massages to the society.

In this case, historic horrific events such as genocide, massacres, and mysterious deaths, are evaluated. Thereafter, a clear message is derived concerning the vices that led to the incidences. A logical decision is derived which enlightens the community against performing certain things. In addition, dark tourism is also in existence to discourage fascism in the contemporary society (Philip, 2011). The popularity of grisly massacre site all around the world have grown substantially in the recent years.

Dark tourism has elicited debates and awareness has increased in television and social networks worldwide. Ultimately, dark tourism has motivated tourist exploration besides being a commodified factor of most tourism experience everywhere. Through dark tourism, all the horrific happenings that took place in the past have been uncovered (Carter, 2012). Therefore, it gives people a chance to witness to what it was like living in the oppressive regimes. There is increasing demand and pressure from tourists to explore destinations where the most horrific events occurred.

The main reason for this increased demand is the increased curiosity by the public to witness terrifying past events. Most people are becoming anxious about the realistic nature of most of the alleged horrific incidences; curiously, they would be interested in visiting respective incident sites to find more information by themselves (Edkins, 2003). As a result, they will prefer spending their vacations in recreational horrific sites such as chambers of former state prisons, homes of serial killers and nuclear disaster zones.

Despite the pleasure moments of tourists travelling in horrific places, visitors are exposed to unpleasant experiences. For example, in Vietnam, tourists to the Cu Chi tunnels are invited to crawl inside while above the tunnel to give them an experience of what happened. Such experiences can be fun but dangerous to the lives of the tourists (Coldwell, 2013). In Latvia, the Karosta prison tourists are privileged to experience ancient brutal prison experiences at their own discretion. In this case, they are risking their own health and life since such prisons were fitted with poison cylinders.

Dark tourism is defined as travel to places actually or symbolically associated with human suffering, misery, and deaths. Countries such as Czech Republic always perceive dark tourism as commodification of death and human past suffering or pains. Numerous sites such as old prisons, murder sites, old battlefields, and cemeteries are viewed as example of dark tourism. However, dark tourism has been criticized because it is believed it can lead to loss of the reliability of the area or site experience and elicits the issue of ethics and morality in operating such sites.

Despite all these criticism, dark tourism is very essential since it helps tourists to understand the past, which can assist them to change societal perception about past life, and probably learn from it. Dark tourism is assisting people practicing it to act as a meaning system that replaces the void once occupied by past people such as kings and religious leaders. This in turn promotes self-identity in that people are able to celebrate their roots (Edkins, 2003). It is important to note that the demand of dark tourism is not only associated with human suffering and death but it also aims to depict the reasons why the place or area is associated with darkness.

In addition, if a battlefield is of great significance to the people engaging in it, more resources will be channeled towards it in terms of destructive power and lives in addition to media coverage (Philip, 2011). This will instead cause more suffering and deaths thus making it a dark site but because of importance of the battlefield and its exposures, it receives general public awareness via media and word of mouth, which makes people more interested in visiting and experiencing the site, and learning about events that took place.

Dark tourism is clearly an important aspect in the tourism industry as it not only provides revenue for the country, but also assists in commemorating important historical aspects in the society. It is generally like a mirror reflecting the image of the global society, reminding it of the current situation in comparison to the horrific situation in the past. Therefore, the global community should positively embrace dark tourism.Section 3: Research Methods This research project used the mixed method for data collection which incorporated the use of questionnaires and participant observation.

Mixed method is an important tool for data collection because it is very reliable and accurate in giving information about the research work. In addition to this, there is always a ready feedback for the researcher. Moreover, the researcher is able to incorporate other things that would have not been possible through phone calls for example. These important facets include observed behavior like facial expressions and other feelings. For this reason the use of mixed method was relevant while researching on dark tourism centers in Prague.

I made my participant observation within two days. I was with some people of our group. The first day of my participant observation was Tuesday 11.03.2014, 15:30 pm at Spooky church. The second day was Wednesday 12.03.2014, 10:30 am at Theresienstadt concentration camp. I asked people questions of my questionnaire at the same places within the same days.Use of questionnaires is so important since it is always very specific and reliable and the researcher is able to get an immediate feedback like information about Prague city.

The researcher may also ask questions regarding how many tourists visit the area and the frequency of their visits. The questionnaire was a closed ended questionnaire which meant that it led the participant in answering some specific question and this was important in ensuring that relevant information is not added and time is not wasted. For example, the first part was about the number of times the tourist had visited Prague, second part was about the duration of time spent in the city and the frequently visited areas.

The third part was about type of tourism associated with Prague. Further on the questionnaire classify the tourist attraction sites and tries to find out the most visited sites. As we move on the questionnaire distinguishes the type of touring styles like in groups or in self. The final parts of this questionnaire try to find out whether the participants are acquainted with any knowledge of dark tourism, whether they have any interest and their emotions and feelings concerning dark tourism. Through questionnaires it is possible to identify the type of culture that relates to the city.

A questionnaire is very important as it also guide in ensuring that the research objectives are achieved. Through the questionnaires it became possible to identify the number of black tourist sites in Prague. Moreover, it was also possible to identify the origin of the origins towards these sites and their cultural relationship to these sites. Use of questionnaires was also important in ensuring that the researcher is able to establish the age group mostly travelling to these sites. Participant observation method was also important in this research process.

However, in this method I am not allowed to talk to the specimens under observation as this may raise suspicion and change of behavior for the participants. However, this method was important in collecting satisfaction levels of the participants as well as their behavior. I was able to observe different ethnic backgrounds like the Chinese, British, Italian, and Russian just by observation. This can be through the different appearance and language spoken by these diverse cultural groups. Through this observation, I was able to relate the origin of the tourists to these sites.

I was able to identify the reason why Russians were attached to the dark tourist centers in Prague. I had a conversation between a Russian and an Italian which most of the Russian tourists vehemently fault the early believers found in Prague for inhuman act of fastening the robbers hand on the underlying statue. An Italian man standing behind them does not seem to noticeably comprehend and corrects them by saying the thief deserved it. The man mentions that they should tour identical sites in future trips.

The Russian ponders on the subsequent move, and they choose to excursion to The Church of St Cyril and Methodius. From this observation I was able to relate some observations in relation to research objective like the historical aspect related to the existence of these sites.Section 4: Results and DiscussionParticipant Observation11.03.2014 Tuesday at 15:30pmSpooky churchI and some people of our group are at Spooky church in Prague. People that are around me emanate from diverse origin and ethnicity and behavior uniquely as compared to the local people.

The main tourist surrounding are from Europe, and the most of them are from Italian, Romanian, British origins, but there are also a lot of Russian and Chinese people. Russian tourists seem to be humble and social since they are ever smiling and playing with things. Conversely, Romanian and Italian are not friendly as compared to the Russian. As group of Russian stream into the Spooky church steadily there a lot of amazement on the faces. They are guided inside the church and they are mainly concern on the hand hanging on the statue of the Virgin mother Mary.

Though some of them do not believe on the issue of Virgin mother Mary they consider it with lots of regard. The Russian tourists are marvel within the church which is rare within their country. Moreover, the camera flares that they utilize appear to augment brightness on the sculpture. They request to take photo of Virgin mother Mary to show back when they go back to Russia. The guide man gives the history of the hand at the statue to the Russian tourists. There more sites in regard to the dark tourism within Prague which makes it to be the best tourist destination in the universe thus the Russian are supposed to visit all of them.

Most of the Russian tourists vehemently fault the early believers found in Prague for inhuman act of fastening the robbers hand on the underlying statue. An Italian man standing behind them does not seem to noticeably comprehend and corrects them by saying the thief deserved it. The man mentions that they should tour identical sites in future trips. The Russian ponders on the subsequent move, and they choose to excursion to The Church of St Cyril and Methodius.12.03.2014 Wednesday at 10:30amTheresienstadtconcentration camp Today we are at Theresienstadtconcentration camp.

There is another group of students here waiting to go in, I think the most of them are British, but with them there are also some European and Chinese students. The British students are ushered into the renowned Theresienstadtconcentration camp by the guide and then directed to small fortress in the camp and the guide seems to be friendly to British tourist as due to their curiosity in the history of the scene. The guide explains to the group the history and significance of Theresienstadtconcentration camp.

They are directed to small fortress in the camp and the guide seems to be glad to work with British tourist as they are much acquainted camps. The students later return and enter a room where the guide explains the history and significance of Theresienstadt concentration camp. Students with assistance of the guide go group around the cells, and exits the camp. They all seem satisfied with the explanation of the guide in regard to the Theresienstadtconcentration camp and they converse among themselves on the significant of the Theresienstadtconcentration camp.

One of the British interrupts them to clarify for them the underlying benefits of the Theresienstadt concentration camp to the Prague and the people. They are extremely satisfied and appreciate the man for his elaboration. A).StatisticsCharles BridgeNValid69Missing0Charles BridgeFrequencyValid PercentValidYes4971.0No2029.0Total69100.0B).StatisticsPrague CastleNValid69Missing0Prague CastleFrequencyValid PercentValidYes4666.7No2333.3Total69100.0C).StatisticsOld TownNValid69Missing0Old TownFrequencyValid PercentValidYes5376.8No1623.2Total69100.0D).E).

StatisticsMuseumsNValid69Missing0MuseumsFrequencyValid PercentValidYes3550.7No3449.3Total69100.0One of the objectives of the research is to identify the number of dark tourism sites in Prague. The tables below best suit the objective. The information identifies 5 centers in the Dark Tourism Site as:Charles BridgeJewish QuarterMuseumsOld TownPrague CastleStatisticsHow would you classify the type of holiday you are onNValid69Missing0How would you classify the type of holiday you are onFrequencyValid PercentValidHeritage913.

0Culture1623.2Short/City break1927.5European Tour1115.9Stag or Hen Party710.1VFR710.1Total69100.0The second objective of the research was to identify the historical aspects related to existence of these sites. This table reveals that the Dark Tourism Centre has been used for various historical events such as HeritageCultureShort/City breakEuropean TourStag or Hen PartyVFREven so, the largest numbers of visitors have been using it for Short City Breaks.StatisticsAwareness of dark tourismNValid69Missing0Awareness of dark tourismFrequencyValid PercentValidVery aware710.

1Aware1217.4Neither2231.9Unaware1420.3Very unaware1420.3Total69100.0The third objective was to identify the distribution of these centers in the town. This table discusses the awareness of the residents about the Dark Tourism sites. The low level of awareness indicates that the distribution is not equal hence there is a large number of people who are not aware of the centers.StatisticsNationalityNValid69Missing0NationalityFrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative PercentValidLocal11.41.41.4European5173.973.975.

4Rest of the world1724.624.6100.0Total69100.0100.0The fourth objective was to find out the origins of the tourists to these sites. Majority of the tourists originate from Europe. This indicates that the origin of the dark tourism sites is Europe, since they are more interested in it than the locals are.The factors identified in the objectives indicate that about the demand for the Old Town are more than other areas in the dark tourism industry in Prague. The demand for other areas is low because of the lack of awareness.

Section 5: ConclusionThe research findings indicate that there are very few people who are aware of Dark Tourism but observations made in “Prague” show that European are more inclined towards such voyeurism as compared to other people. One of the reasons is that most of these places that are close to proximity with death are located in Europe and in Far East like Cambodia. Research was conducted through a survey, distributing questionnaires and getting feedback from the visitors. Observations were carried out through mixed methodologies and people’s perceptions and behaviors were noticed to understand their motive about visiting such places.

Comparing these findings with the similar work prove that the most motivating factor of people to visit such places is to get education and to get an insight on history and tragic events. In my opinion, this research coincides with our findings concluding that people are more inclined to such places as they feel motivated towards seeing certain symbolic encounters associated with tragedy and death (Coats & Ferguson, 2013). If data collection methodologies are scrutinized, there are strengths but few limitations and weaknesses.

For instance, the role of agencies that promote Dark Tourism are needed to be identified and should be an area of research. Moreover, the role of media to promote these activities should be instilled in the research as well. The research was conducted in two days only but it would have been better if there was at least a month’s observation to get qualitative and reliable results. However, I feel that the strength of the report lies on the fact that the feedback coming from the visitors provides an understanding of their beliefs and values.

They also show that people are explorer by birth and they get stimulated when they get information relating to dark side of the history (Niemelä, 2010).In order to conduct future research it is necessary to comprehend on getting feedback from large scale of audiences so that social responses toward dark tourism and its commercialism are sought. While conducting ground work on reasons to why people are curious about visiting such places, a qualitative method is an alternative that can be used to give exploratory results of Dark Tourism.

This qualitative method involves getting feedback of visitors based on their beliefs on their sights and then analyzing their view through news articles and other media channels on participation of these people in these tours. As a result, investigation will provide further information on people’s perspective, intentions as well as understanding on the significance of the areas where they are visiting. As it is seen that there are touristic visitations to sites of horror and disasters, but very less people are aware about these places so research is needed to pursue on getting information regarding the role of other influential bodies like media on Dark Tourism.

It is necessary to instill understanding through this approach as such findings will also provide a critical view that will be generated from diverse sources like media sources and tourist agencies that organize and promote Dark Tourism (Niemelä, 2010).References Burmon, A, 2010, Dark Tourism.Cambodia tries to turn its bloody history into a sightseeing boom, 306 (1), pp. 34-35.Carter, L. (2012). My Lai Revisited, 159 (13), PP.19-20.Coldwell, W, 2013, Dark tourism: Why murder sites and disaster zones are proving popular with travelers.

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