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Religious Tourism or Dark Tourism ?
Karel Werdler, Inholland University of Applied Sciences
Institute of Dark Tourism Research – IDTR
October 7, 2016
What is Dark Tourism ?
Lennon & Foley (1996;2000), Sharpley & Stone 2009) :
Dark Tourism Seaton (1996), Johnston & Mandelartz (2016) :
Thanatourism
Sion ed. (2014) : Death Tourism
Others : Morbid tourism, Holocaust tourism, Funerary
tourism, Contested heritage (Ashworth), Slavery tourism, Crime tourism, Prison tourism, Fright tourism, Grief tourism, Disaster tourism, Doomsday tourism, Toxic Tourism
Seaton (1996) : Thanatopsis, thanatourism
Travel to see death (executions)
Travel to see places where people died (Flanders fields….)
Travel to burial sites and monuments
Travel to re-enactments
Travel to synthetic locations such as museums where memento of the dead are exposed
Definition :
“ Dark tourism is the act of travel to sites associated with death, suffering and the seemingly macabre..” (Stone, 2006)
Spectrum from light to dark…..
Stone (2006):..from light to dark...
Dark fun factories ( Dungeons Theme attraction)
Dark exhibitions (Body Worlds)
Dark dungeons (Robben Island)
Dark resting places (Highgate/London)
Dark shrines ( Graceland, USA)
Dark conflict sites (Flanders Fields)
Dark camps of Genocide
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Dark resting place/shrine
St.Peter’s catacombs
Places where people died
(Religious) conflict site
Camps of genocide
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Travel to burial sites/resting places/shrines and monuments (Seaton/Stone)
Travel to places where people died (Seaton)
Travel to Dark conflict sites (Stone)
Travel to Dark camps of genocide (Stone)
These dark tourism places can often be related to religious tourism sites, but…..motivation/emotions ?
Religious e.g. pilgrimage
Historical, heritage
Cultural Antropological
Self fullfilment
Must-see
Curiousity
Looking for the macabre/Horror
Other or combinations
Motivation ?
Macabre enjoyment ?
But not just a western phenomenon (Mecca)
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Blood fountain,
Teheran
Hindu procession, Madras
Dia de Muertos, Mexico
McKercher and Du Cros
Cultural
Tourism
Dark Tourism
Religious Tourism
Conclusion