Over the past 500 years, travelling has become synonymous with experiencing a multitude of cultures, exploring, relaxing, and entertainment. From this, the development of sex tourism has emerged. Historically linked with the growing ideas of sexual liberation and pleasure, sex tourism has evolved to not only experience these things but also consuming the heritage and cultural significance surrounding it. 

From the Grand Tour in the 16th century to more recent times with the emergence of package holidays, changing societal norms links between travel and sexual freedom are incredibly apparent. Demonstrating a shift in indulgence to heritage around sex, encouraging consumers to dig deeper into the complexities that museums navigate- the fine line between entertaining while conveying important information and meeting the new modern-day audience needs. This blog post will explore these complexities surrounding the rise in sex tourism and its close links with heritage. Whilst also looking at the links between past and present tourism and how this has played a role in how museums navigate the tricky task of being informative vs educational. 

This blog will focus on Amsterdams Sex Museum , known for its imagined geographies, such as picturesque landscapes, but also for its liberal ideas around sex, making it a hot spot with the 18-30 demographic who want the chance to experience the rich culture and liberation, like those who undertook the Grand Tour. Another example is the New York Museum of Sex

Origins of sex tourism and heritage 

The phrase Grand Tour was first coined in The Voyage of Italy by Richard Lasses in 1670; what we now know as the grand tour occurred as far back as the 16th century. Although no set route, stops included France, Italy and Greece. Traditionally, it started as something only undertaken by noble men looking to finish their education; however, in the 1800s, women soon started to experience the cultural richness the Grand Tour had to offer. For many, they were solely independent away from traditional norms, so because of this, the trips often tended to be part education and part ‘continental booze-up, a prolonged itinerary of excessive consumption, gambling and sexual experimentation’ (Nast, 2022). Ingles states that the Grand Tour offered a ‘search for new selves down forbidden paths in paradise gardens, a giving of oneself to strangers and to suddenly discovered friendships, a stripping-off of old attire, both literal and metaphoric’ (Inglis, 2005, p.136).

Although accounts were written both within the Grand Tour and even in Victorian times, often scared of repercussions of breaking the social norms of the day, many require a modern audience to read between the lines. A prime example is Margaret Fountaine’s love among butterflies. A published diary of Victorian lady’s travels. She details her falling in love with her guide/translator, Khalil Neimy, in Syria. She wrote that she ‘claimed all the privileges of an accepted lover, though I did not give him all he asked.’ (Fountaine, 1980, p.125). Diaries like this had to be published retrospectively; when the diaries were given to the castle museum in 1940 following her death, there was a letter asking for them not to be put on display in 1978 showing that even in death Fountaine feared the backlash.

The creation of package holidays in 1841 by Thomas Cook also helped create a revolution. The world wars brought stagnation to the tourist industry; however, the idea of escaping from the constraints of war-torn Britain appealed to many, and in 1947, holidays continued back up. The growth in travel and economy with a new increase in disposable income coupled with the introduction of new ideas such with the introduction of contraception and an increasing urge for self-discovery. The 1970s saw the birth of the stereotypical 18-30s holiday such as Club 18-30 having the ‘catchphrase “sun, sex and sea” Club 18–30 became a go-to tour operator for people travelling without their parents for the first time.’ (Dickinson, 2018). Seemingly sharing several comparisons with the Grand Tour: away from social norms, pushing the limits, offer a sense of escapism and enjoying the sexual freedom. 

Education vs Entertainment

One way in which museums balance entertainment and education is using technology. For example, the celestial bodies VR exhibition in 2017. A fully immersive experience where the audience were encouraged to use all senses as they were transported by VR into a different dimension. Based on the song set it off by Diplos, the VR experience allowed the audience to explore a fantasy sci-fi hallucinogenic land with exotic dancers. The use of technology such as VR in museums shows the capabilities of modern technology within museum settings drawing a modern crowd in. Other technology uses include the virtual tour run by the sex museum in Amsterdam. This is key to bringing in a new audience and allowing them to experience the various artefacts that the museum offers that they wouldn’t otherwise get to experience. 

Another technique used is the type of language. Amsterdam Sex Museum describes itself as ‘educational & funny’ (The Sex Museum, n.d). This can be seen in many novelty items amongst important artefacts, informative facts, and information. Using this language is paramount in keeping the audience engaged and entertained, which in turn will help promote education within the museums. Although sex museums are often thought-provoking, the tone and language used allows for the information to be more digestible. Another thing they have done is make sure that they appeal to a wide range of exhibitions that cater to different audiences and that they are represented, such as the whole exhibition on LGBTQ+. The exhibition hones in on the growth in pride parade, the development of gay rights worldwide and the drag queen industry. 

However, in contrast, the museum stays informative by running workshops and lectures. An example of this would be within the New York Museum of Sex running workshops on topics such as reproductive health to help destigmatise it. For example, in 2020 they ran the Laia Abril–On Abortion: And the Repercussions of Lack of Access . At a time when women’s reproductive health is a heated topic within America the exhibition highlights the importance of women’s health care and the taboo around it. In the centre of the exhibition were chairs with a TV Infront showing a clip of Todd Akin, who made remarks live on TV in 2012 that even in rape cases, abortion isn’t acceptable, and women have control over what happens. The chairs in front of the TV metaphorically and physically actively encourage discussion. Similarly, Amsterdam has also ensured to be inclusive, such as objects from various cultures, such as China and Greece. It also includes pop culture references such as Marilyn Monroe, the most recognised sex symbol and uses a broad range of exhibitions on various things, such as the BDSM exhibition. 

Controversies 

Although this has not come without its challenges, the Amsterdam city council announced the discouragement of both stag and hen parties, with the deputy mayor saying that it was done to ‘keep out visitors that we do not want’ (Doyle, 2022). Showing the impact that imagined geographies have had on tourist destinations, especially the ones with more sexual connotations. This would also have impacts on places such as the sex museum being a prime place that they would often visit. Additionally, there has been reports of sexual harassment to staff working within the museums. Staff members at the Museum of sex reported to have experienced ‘constant and persistent sexual harassment’ from customers, adding that these complaints were not dealt with by management and were simply allowed to happen (Burke, 2019). The case was ultimately closed with a settlement (unreported how much), it raises the question about how much protection the staff have and goes against everything a sex museum should be- safe and welcoming for both staff and customers. 

Recently, the Museum of sex has also been in hot water for misinformation. The museum misreported that Madonna had failed to help support the AIDS crisis at an exhibition of the 1980s music videos. Claiming that ‘mainstream museums such as Madonna….failed to openly acknowledge the devastation of the movement’ (Museum of Sex, 2024). The museum faced significant backlash and released a public apology ‘we have since amended our museum signage to point out Madonna’s early steps to bring attention to the aid crisis. We regret any negative light this many have shined. It was purely unintentional’ (Museum of Sex, 2024). Undeniably these types of museums have and do face constant religious backlash  from the likes of the catholic league, who claimed the Museum of Sex to be ‘a death chamber that would acknowledge all the wretched diseases promiscuity has caused’ (Chancellor, 2002). 

Conclusion

To conclude, there has been a very apparent change in the need to explore sexuality over the past 500 years with tourism. Going from the need to experience sexual liberation to the more modern world wanting to experience this but to also wanting to explore the heritage that has grown because of this. The growing interest in sexual heritage, museums have had to adapt to the growth and rise in sex museums. However, there is a very fine line between education and information, and sex museums appear to dance along this very line- although some not always seeming to get it right. 

Bibliography

Burke, M. (2019). Ex-Museum of Sex tour guide sues over alleged sexual harassment. [online] NBC News. Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ex-museum-sex-tour-guide-sues-over-alleged-sexual-harassment-n1019631 [Accessed 29 Feb. 2024].

Chancellor, A. (2002). The opposite of sex. The Guardian. [online] 28 Sep. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/sep/28/usa.comment [Accessed 2 Mar. 2024].

Dickinson, G. (2018). Outdated and irrelevant – the demise of Club 18-30 comes as no surprise. [online] The Telegraph. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/comment/club-18-30-holidays-demise/.

Doyle, E. (2022). Amsterdam campaign tells ‘nuisance’ British tourists to ‘stay away’ from capital. [online] The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/amsterdam-campaign-nuisance-british-tourists-stay-away-b2240003.html.

Fountaine, M. (1980). Love Among the Butterflies. HarperCollins.

Inglis, F. (2005). The Delicious History of the Holiday. Routledge.

Laia Abril. (2020). On Abortion, The Museum of Sex, New York, 2020. [online] Available at: https://www.laiaabril.com/exhibition/on-abortion-museum-of-sex/.

Lassels, R. (1670). The Voyage Of Italy, Or A Compleat Journey Through Italy.

Museum of Sex. (n.d.). About. [online] Available at: https://www.museumofsex.com/about [Accessed 2 Mar. 2024].

Museum of Sex. (2020). Laia Abril: On Abortion. [online] Available at: https://www.museumofsex.com/exhibitions/laia-abril-on-abortion/#:~:text=In%20her%20first%20chapter%2C%20On [Accessed 2 Mar. 2024].

Nast, C. (2022). How the Grand Tour transformed eighteenth-century culture in Britain. [online] House & Garden. Available at: https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/gallery/the-grand-tour.

Sex Museum Amsterdam (n.d.). Sexmuseum Amsterdam – Ontdek de Venustempel van Amsterdam. [online] Available at: https://sexmuseumamsterdam.nl.

Stanley, I. (2024). Museum of Sex apologizes to Madonna for claims she ignored AIDS crisis. [online] Mail Online. Available at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12948533/museum-sex-nyc-madonna-apology-aids-crisis.html#:~:text=New%20York%20City%27s%20Museum [Accessed 2 Mar. 2024].

The Guardian (2018). Thomas Cook: the father of modern tourism – archive, 22 November 1958. The Guardian. [online] 22 Nov. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/nov/22/thomas-cook-the-father-of-modern-tourism-archive-1958.

Zoffany, J. (n.d.). Tribuna of the Uffizi. [Painting] History Hit. Available at: https://www.historyhit.com/what-was-the-grand-tour/ [Accessed 2 Mar. 2024].

‘Surfing to me is more than just a sport, a culture, a way of life. It’s my medicine, my reset button, the thing I do to rediscover the best version of myself.’

Nick Hounsfield (The Wave, 2020).

The Birth of Surf

Back in the 1800s, the affluent south coast might just have been the birthplace of British surfing, with a rising trend of sea bathing. In 1890, we saw two Hawaiian Princes hitting the waves in the town of Bridlington. The chilly North Sea became the earliest confirmed wave riding in the UK, not the sunny surf hot spots like Newquay or Croyde. The birth of UK surf was in Bridlington, brought to us by Hawaiian royalty! Surfing had earned its title the ‘Sport of Kings’ thanks to its history with Hawaiian royalty. It was even dubbed ‘A Royal Sport’ in Jack London’s essay ‘Learning the Hawaiian Surfing’ because of the involvement of Kings and Queens, and yes, there were champion female surfers as well as male! Surfing even had some UK royal connections, with Edward Albert, Prince of Wales, dipping his toes in the sport. Under the guidance of Duke Kahanamoku, the Prince entered a royal jaunt to Hawaii in April 1920. Prince Edward fell in love with the sport and was often hailed as the father of modern surfing (Robinson, 2019).

The year is 1929, and a tight-knit group of Jewish immigrants set about building their own longboard, travelling from London, where they rode the waves of the West Country and the Channel Islands, to Newquay. Not only did they try their hand-or should I say feet- at standing up on their boards, but they also filmed their fun. And thanks to Sue Clamp, we all get a front row seat to this rare footage of history. Peter Robinson got the chance to chat with three of the OG surf gang in their mid-90s. Sure, their attempts at standing tall on their boards might not have been Olympic-worthy, but they paved the way for European surf culture (Surfer Today, n.d.).

We’re used to seeing sleek surf boards today. But those early boards? In 1934, they were  four-foot smooth plywood planks, sporting a funky upturned nose. And the surfers bible of that year was Ronald Funnell’s ‘The Art of Surf Riding’-a roadmap to wave riding glory. It was full of tips on how to shred waves and pointed out all the best Surf spots across Britain (Robinson, 2019).

If you want to find out where today’s best spots are, click this link for an interactive map! (museum of british surfing, 2019).

1934 wasn’t just about guidebooks, it was also the year Britain’s first wave pool for surfing was made. The Duke of Gloucester cut the ribbon at the Empire swimming pool in Wembley, London (the ‘Sport of Kings’ indeed). As the years rolled on, coastal towns like Newquay in Cornwall and Woolacombe in Devon started cashing in on the surfing trend, plastering images of surfers on their guidebook covers to lure in the beach-loving crowds. The late 1950s saw things heating up on the surf front. After a spike in drowning incidents, Cornwall councils hired professional lifeguards to patrol the beaches. So along came the Australians and Americans to lend a helping hand. Their expertise birthed a whole new surf culture in the UK (Robinson, 2019).

In the 2000s, stars like Russell Winter, Robyn Davies, and Sam Bleakley started touring the world. But it wasn’t just the pros catching waves: tens of thousands of us regular people were hitting up every coast across the seas (Robinson, 2019). From the sandy shores of Australia, British surfers have, and continue to, embark on sunnier adventures to seek out the perfect waves to ride and eagerly compete in international surfing competitions. Recently, surfing has made its debut in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (Barwick, 2023). Now, many British surfers like to dip their toes in the French waves (Elliott, 2022).

To see more on the history of Surfing in the UK, here is an interactive timeline from the Museum of British Surfing.

Cornwall: the home of surfing

‘The expert rider takes off lying prone on his surfboard on the crest of a wave that is just breaking, and providing his timing is correct he will get a run of anything up to a hundred yards, at a speed of ten to fifteen miles an hour.’

(Newquay on the Cornish Coast, 1936)

As you drive into Newquay you are greeted by signs boasting ‘Coast of Dreams’, road signs are plastered with surf stickers and the streets are teeming with surfers. Especially in the summer months, this town is the epicentre of British Surf culture. But before 1962, you’d hardly spot a surfer on the beaches. It wasn’t until April 1962, when Australian lifeguards rolled into Newquay with fibreglass surfboards and The Beach Boys blared from radios, that surfing became popular. The demand for boards skyrocketed and Bob Head, Bill Bailey and Doug Wilson created European surf company Bilbo surfboards. But you had to prove yourself in the water before earning the right to own a surfboard. And to get yourself a board in Newquay, you had to track down Bill Bailey. It was sort of a rite of passage (Barber, 2017). The Brits were absolutely spellbound by the surfing scene. Before you knew it, more and more Brits were flocking to the beaches, ready to ride the wave (Wave, 2017). The Australians caught the surfing bug from a demo team from Hawaii and California in the 1956 Olympics. When they brought their skills to Cornwall’s shores, gone were the days of wooden belly boards (Booth, 2012).

The 90s had the entire globe catching onto the surfing craze. It wasn’t just a sport anymore-it was a lifestyle, complete with its own booming industry. Seaside towns were bursting with people sporting vibrant surf gear. Surfing also had made its mark in the competitive arena too, turning this relaxing pastime into a full-blown sport. And with this, Newquay and other Cornish resorts quickly became every surfer’s dream playground (Wave, 2017). In the past decade, the town’s population practically explodes during the summer months, ballooning from 22,000 in the winter to 80,000 visitors per week when the sun’s shining (Barber, 2017).

Surf Therapy

‘More and more studies are being carried out to look at how and why being near water has a positive impact on our mental and physical health and well-being.’

(The Wave, 2020)

Surfing isn’t about catching waves anymore. Over the past decade, it has become a form of therapy for both the mind and body. In the UK, the NHS has recognised surf therapy as a tool to support children and young people facing mental health challenges. Even the police and Blue Light services have hopped on board. The Wave Project charity supports around 1,200 children and young people every year and they’re the only surf therapy charity in the world to be funded by a government health service (www.rmg.co.uk, n.d.). You don’t need to gain the benefits of surf therapy. ‘The best surfer is the one having the most fun.’ It’s not just about the skill, it’s about soaking up the fun that comes with it. Surf Therapy has shown huge success in helping people tackle PTSD and depression, while also aiding in physical recovery. Now, let’s get a little scientific. Biologist E. O. Wilson suggested in 1984 that humans have this innate bond with nature and water. It triggers positivity and reduces stress levels. Surfing combines physical activity with the soothing water. Surfing isn’t just a sport (The Wave, 2020).

If you are interested, here is a link to the wave project.

Bibliography

Images:

Lindsay, A. (2013). vintage surfboard collector UK: Who said there’s no surf in Britain ? [online] vintage surfboard collector UK. Available at: http://vintagesurfboardcollectoruk.blogspot.com/2013/02/who-said-theres-no-surf-in-britain.html [Accessed 29 Feb. 2024].

Robinson, P. (2019). UK Surf History – Interactive Timeline. [online] Museum of British Surfing. Available at: https://www.museumofbritishsurfing.org.uk/discover/uk-surf-history-interactive-timeline/.

Primary sources:

Museum of British Surfing (2020). Lewis Rosenberg surfing 1929. [online] http://www.youtube.com. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9wJpzIu1aA [Accessed 29 Feb. 2024].

Newquay on the Cornish Coast. (1936).

The Wave (2020). Into The Blue: Blue Health and Surfing in the 21st Century.

Secondary sources:

Anon, (n.d.). The history of UK surfing started in 1929. [online] Available at: https://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/uk-surfing-history-started-in-1929.

Barber, R. (2017). Newquay Surfing: A History Of Britains Surf City From 1960 To Present! [online] newquayactivitycentre.co.uk. Available at: https://newquayactivitycentre.co.uk/blog/newquay-surfing-history/ [Accessed 28 Feb. 2024].

Barwick, T. (2023). GB SURFING: A NEW ERA ON THE WAVES. [online] Sport Industry Group. Available at: https://www.sportindustry.biz/news-categories/features/gb-surfing-a-new-era-on-the-waves/ [Accessed 29 Feb. 2024].

Booth, R. (2012). Wave hello: the birth of British surfing. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/aug/24/surfing-anniversary-cornwall-devon.

Elliott, J. (2022). An Idiot Abroad. [online] Longboarder Magazine. Available at: https://longboardermagazine.com/2022/08/an-idiot-abroad/ [Accessed 29 Feb. 2024].

Lindsay, A. (2013). vintage surfboard collector UK: Who said there’s no surf in Britain ? [online] vintage surfboard collector UK. Available at: http://vintagesurfboardcollectoruk.blogspot.com/2013/02/who-said-theres-no-surf-in-britain.html [Accessed 29 Feb. 2024].

Museum of British Surfing. (2019). Surf Spots – Interactive Map – Museum of British Surfing. [online] Available at: https://www.museumofbritishsurfing.org.uk/discover/surf-spots-interactive-map/ [Accessed 28 Feb. 2024].

Robinson, P. (2019). UK Surf History – Interactive Timeline. [online] Museum of British Surfing. Available at: https://www.museumofbritishsurfing.org.uk/discover/uk-surf-history-interactive-timeline/.

The Independent. (2005). Surfing: Making waves in the magazine market. [online] Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/surfing-making-waves-in-the-magazine-market-517272.html [Accessed 29 Feb. 2024].

Wave, C. (2017). The History of Surfing in Newquay, Cornwall. [online] Cornish Wave. Available at: https://cornishwave.com/surfing-in-newquay-the-history/#:~:text=It%20all%20started%20in%201929.www.rmg.co.uk. (n.d.). 

Surf’s Up – Surfing as therapy | Royal Museums Greenwich. [online] Available at: https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/online/surfs-surfing-therapy [Accessed 29 Feb. 2024].

‘The knowledge of Davos will be a blessing to many’ (Morland, 1878)

Source: Location of Davos

For centuries people have been travelling abroad to improve their health. Industrialization and poor quality from factory smoke led to cities being a ‘breeding ground for diseases’ (Barton,2009). Thus, leading to many people in Victorian Britain being affected by Tuberculosis (TB) this was a disease that caused its victims to have ‘fever, night sweats and coughing up blood’ (Barton,2009). And so, those who could, travelled to lands with sun exposure and better air quality. Heliotherapy is the ‘use of natural sunlight for treatment’ (Chung, 2015) for a variety of diseases and skin conditions.

The idea of travelling to another country to restore one’s health is a practice that has been around all throughout history. There is evidence to suggest that many ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians also believed in the suns powers and attempted to ‘harness it to cure diseases’ (Brodie, 2015.P8). Indicating that this practice has been around a lot longer than many realise. And so those who were partaking in this practice in the Victorian period were not illogical.

Dr Rollier produced work on heliotherapy. His work concluded that patients should ‘sunbathe for health’ (Collins, 2007). He designed buildings to ‘optimize exposure to the sun’s rays’ (Collins, 2007), these often had south-facing balconies in order to gain the most sunlight. He suggests that it can provide enough help so that they can now ‘condemn surgical intervention’ (Rollier, 1927. P815), suggesting that the air exposure and the other elements of the treatment helped enough that surgery was no longer needed to try and help those suffering. It suggests that the sun exposure causes a ‘flow of blood the depth to the surface’ (Rollier, 1927. P817) which then causes a regulation of circulation around the body. He concludes that this is more beneficial than the ‘best massages’ (Rollier, 1927. P.817) and it helps restore the muscles. All this exposure to the sun and the fresh alpine air helps ‘revive the appetite’ (Rollier, 1927. P817) and then ‘gives new life’ (Rollier, 1927. P817). Those who have undergone this treatment can now leave feeling stronger and in better health than when they arrived.

An industrial town in Victorian Britain. Source: Victorian Britain  

SAFE HAVEN:

An example of a popular destination for this is called Davos, located in southeast Switzerland. This place became a ‘haven for tuberculosis sufferers’ (Fahy, 2016) throughout the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Alexander Spengler, a German doctor, travelled to Davos in the 19^th century and was impressed by the ‘clean, healthy air’ (Zimmerman, ND). He was convinced this would help people with lung disease.

While in Davos people began to ‘believe the mountain air could cure them’ (Fahy, 2016) and so many sufferers of TB began to travel there in hopes of leaving with their health restored. BY 1940 Davos had around ’40 such medical institutions’ (Fahy, 2016) that all began to appear since the 1860s, they came about following Dr Alexander Spengler developed a TB treatment of ‘hours lying on sun loungers’ (Fahy, 2016) while breathing in the fresh alpine air.

People have been visiting Davos to help heal them for centuries. Davos was exposed to ‘many hours of sunshine’ even in winter (Morland, 1878), and so Davos was often favoured by many. People believed that time spent in Davos would ‘patch and mend’ (Morland, 1878) the ill. However, it still important to remember that it cannot ‘perform impossibilities’ (Morland, 1878) some that attended may not have been treated. However, it is noted that during their time here many believed the ‘invalid may live as the healthy do elsewhere’ (Morland, 1878) they weren’t held back by their disease.

In the middle is Dr Rollier, he is examining a patient undergoing treatment. Source: Treatment  

HELIOTHERAPY AND ITS POWERS

It is important to realise that Tuberculosis had no cure and so heliotherapy would not heal those who contracted it. Prior to the treatment those who contracted TB often died at home where they may have ‘infected their carers and families’ (Barton, 2009. P). And so being in these facilities will have lessened the spread of the disease.

Typical place of treatment. Source: Davos treatment centre

DAILY LIFE IN DAVOS:

While in Davos people had a very strict daily schedule to follow. There days were very organised and how people spent their time all depended on the stage they were in of treatment. They often ate a lot of food while in treatment as TB made people lose weight and so doctors during this time believed that eating in ‘large quantities would help’ (Fahy, 2016) and so this was interpreted in their daily tasks. It is regarded that during the treatment the patient ‘eats the malady away’ (Morland, 1878). This is important as during their stay there is a big emphasis placed on eating and drinking fresh milk. People had to fit in ‘two litres of cows milk’ (Fahy, 2016) per day, while also eating between ‘seven and thirteen courses’ (Fahy. 2016).

When they first arrived the patients were required to acclimate themselves to the conditions such as ‘the cold air and the intense sunlight’ (Brodie, 2015. P10). in order to do this they often stayed In ‘open porch rooms’ and as time went on they were ‘moved closer to open windows’ (Brodie, 2015.P10). This was done in order for them to be exposed indirectly to the sunlight prior to direct exposure. This was done so any open wounds would have had time to heal. So, once this had been done the children were then slowly exposed to the direct sunlight. Throughout their time their patients became ‘physically and emotionally stronger’ (Brodie, 2015) and once they were strong enough they were out of bed and were sent outdoors. This was done so they could engage with a ‘wide variety of physical exercise’ (Brodie, 2015). This was to further the exposure to direct sunlight while also getting movement and exercise.  Patients followed the rules ‘to the book if they wanted to get better’ (Brodie, 2015).

PRESENT DAY

Nowadays Davos is used for a different purpose. It is well known for hosting the annual meeting of ‘World Economic Forum’ (Fahy, 2016). Many rich people such as ‘CEO’s, politician, celebrities’ (Fahy, 2016) attend this. They stay in the towns hotels. The locations many patients would have stayed in. In simple terms the meeting is held for those who are invited to discuss ‘global political and economic challenges’ (Franks, 2013) However, the country has not lost it’s medical ties.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic the amount of people ‘concerned about their health and wellbeing has rocketed’ (Barrell, 2023). The pandemic saw people confined to the house for months on end, this created a huge impact on people’s mental and physical health’ (Barrell, 2023). People are increasingly more worried and more aware of their own health, they’re taking more time to look after themselves. Many people were reporting as wanting to ‘change their lifestyle in 2021’ (Barrell, 2023), whether this be more exercise, better eating or travelling abroad to something such as a spa. It has been estimated that just over one fifth of people travelling are ‘currently travelling for health’ (Barrell, 2023). This has resulted in a ‘30% increase in demand for wellness breaks’ (Barrell, 2023). In todays age, wellness travel is not ‘confined to the spa’ (Barrell, 2023). Those who are taking part in the travels take part in a range of activities to increase ‘mental and physical health’. Wellness travel is now associated with enhancing a ‘healthy lifestyle’ (Barrell, 2023) unlike in the past when people went to help with diseases such as TB. It is now more likely that wellness travel is now more associated with ‘fitness holidays and adventure travel’ (Barrell, 2023). Many travel companies are advertising wellness breaks, they are advertising for people to ‘find your happy’ (Barrell, 2023) by booking holidays to get away from reality and relax.

Bibliography:

Primary Sources: Images

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Swissinfo.ch (2016) ‘A breath of fresh air for an alpine village’ Available from: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/tuberculosis-and-davos_a-breath-of-fresh-air-for-an-alpine-village/41896580#:~:text=By%201940%20Davos%20had%20around,milk%20and%20generally%20eating%20well. [Accessed on: 26^th February 2024]

Primary sources:

Mrs Morland (1878) ‘For individuals. In Davos Platz: A New Alpine Resort for Sick and Sound by One who Knows it Well.’ London

Rollier A, (1927). ‘Heliotherapy: Its Therapeutic, Prophylactic and social Value’. The American Journal of Nursing. 27 (10). Pp 815-817

Secondary Sources:

Barrell, S (2023) ‘The rise of wellness travel, from rewilding to yoga and pilgrimages’ [Online] Available from: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/wellness-travel-rewilding-yoga-pilgrimages  [Accessed on: 26^th February 2024]

Barton, S. (2009) ‘Healthy Living in The Alps’. Manchester University Press. pp

Brodie, B (2015) ‘Children of the sun’. University of Virginia Nursing School. PP 8-12.

Collins, E (2007) ‘The rise and fall of sunlight therapy’. [Online] Available from: [Accessed on: 25^th February 2024]

Chung, J (2015) ‘Heliotherapy’. [Online] Available from: https://dermnetnz.org/topics/heliotherapy  [Accessed on: 15^th February]

Fahy J (2016) ‘A breath of fresh air for an alpine village’ [Online] Available from https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/tuberculosis-and-davos_a-breath-of-fresh-air-for-an-alpine-village/41896580 [Accessed on: 20^th February 2024]

Franks, J (2013) ‘What is Davos and what happens at the World Economic Forum meeting?’ [Online] Available from https://news.sky.com/story/what-is-davos-and-what-happens-at-the-world-economic-forum-meeting-12784281  [Accessed on: 26^th February 2023]

Zimmerman, K (ND) ‘Top 10 reasons to choose Switzerland for medical treatment.’ [Online] Available from https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/planning/about-switzerland/health/health-blog/top-10-reasons-for-switzerland/  [Accessed on: 27^th February 2024]

There is a history of Dark Tourism amongst British travellers dating back hundreds of years, for example, the journey made to Scandinavia and the Nordic regions, which was often a popular spot for those travelling for the purpose of health and wellbeing, but alongside it ran a darker discourse, in which visitors often took trips to sites of famous battles and burials. The focus on Chernobyl as a site of Dark Tourism in todays day and age is arguably the opposite of a health and wellbeing trip, to an abandoned city and exclusion zone, still seeped in radiation from the 1986 disaster. 

Dark Tourism is argued by some to be a recent phenomenon, for example Lennon and Foley who suggest that ‘tourist interest in recent death, disaster and atrocity is a growing phenomenon in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries’ (Lennon and Foley 2000, pp. 3). There could be other explanations however for why this seems to be the case. Firstly, the late 20^th and early 21^st century have seen rapid and vast technological advancements in terms of transportation. Low budget airlines allowed travellers to get around at a lesser expense. Ryanair relaunched as Europes ‘first low budget airline’ in 1990, running more flights at a lower cost to the consumer (Mark Tungate, 2017). The impact of media and the technological revolution that we have lived through also play a major role with the creation of the internet, mobile phones and the online media boom. There is a plethora of information available at our fingertips, be it via online articles or blog posts, film, television series, documentaries or gaming for people to engross themselves in things that they find intriguing. Chernobyl is a prime example of how the internet can create mass attraction in dark tourism.  

Chernobyl certainly meets the label of a dark tourist spot defined by Seaton as ‘the desire to visit places inherently associated with death’ as the worst nuclear disaster in human history contaminating large areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. (Seaton, 2009, p522). The official death toll directly linked to Chernobyl sits at just 31, which recognises the 31 first responders who died on the night of the disaster. Greenpeace infact put the real death toll at closer to 100,000 (Olivia Alabaster, 2019). The negative health impacts (cancer, leukaemia, circulatory diseases, and other chronic diseases) have so far claimed 600,000 lives of people in the contaminated zones (International Atomic Energy Agency 2006). It is no wonder that fans of the macabre are eager to visit. In 2013, some 8,000 tourists visited the Chernobyl exclusion zone. This rose to 65,000 by 2018, and as of 2019 the organisers expect up to 100,000 visitors following the launch of HBO’s ‘Chernobyl’. Currently, the Chernobyl tour is closed as a result of the Russo-Ukranian War, the site was even seized by the Russians at one point for just over a month, from the 24^th of February until the 31^st of March 2022. I am sure that if it was accessible to the public, there would still be some dark tourists that thrive off danger and thrill, who would still be more than willing to go and visit. This blog will discuss what sparks such popularity of a place like Chernobyl amongst dark tourists.  

Statue dedicated to the official 31 first responders who lost their lives. Accessed via: https://www.insider.com/visiting-chernobyl-after-the-nuclear-disaster-2019-4#we-also-made-a-stop-by-the-fire-department-in-chernobyl-11  

What makes Chernobyl unique as a tourist attraction?

Chernobyl as a dark tourism attraction is certainly unique. Frozen in time, the town of Pripyat is like stepping into a time machine back to the Soviet Era. The town reflects the communist way of life under the Soviet Union as it housed thousands of plant workers and their families (Olivia Alabaster 2019).  It gives the tourists the opportunity to be immersed in history and also see the accumulation of nature over time whilst being at the site of the worlds worst nuclear disaster. For history fanatics, Pripyat provides the opportunity to visit a Cold War relic, suspended in time exactly as it was in 1986. It shows the Soviet Era in its final years of being… a haunting reflection of a superpower of the 20^th century before it eventually crumbled.  

Image 1: ‘I saw a statue of Lenin.’  Accessed via: https://www.insider.com/visiting-chernobyl-after-the-nuclear-disaster-2019-4#the-architecture-and-monuments-of-the-area-were-a-step-back-in-time-10  

Image 2: The deserted town of Pripyat, Chernobyl. 20^th May 2008. Accessed via: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ebrd/9678672877  

Image 3: The rusty emblem of the Soviet Union is seen over the ghost town of Pripyat close to the Chernobyl plant, Ukraine, 15 April 2021. (AP Photo). https://www.dailysabah.com/world/europe/more-than-3-decades-later-chernobyl-a-place-of-tragedy-and-hope  

Image 4: Here you can see the Cultural Palace on the right, various other shops and restaurants and the 17-storey buildings in which most people lived. Each one is topped with a Soviet symbol. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-22246328

Image 5: “Another way of looking at the desolation of Pripyat is how things could be in 27 years at other sites around the world, such as the area around Fukushima in Japan, as well as how the world would look after more than 25 years without human intervention, when nature reclaims cities”, said Wright. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-22246328 

Image 6: An abandoned amusement park in Pripyat. November 15, 2014. Accessed via: https://www.ststworld.com/pripyat-ukraine

Chernobyl could be seen as a reflection of anxieties that we have about the modern day world, as Stone describes Chernobyl as ‘a heterotopia that allows us to gaze upon a post-apocalyptic world, in which the familiar and uncanny collide’ (Stone, 2013, pp.91). Chernobyl is certainly a place where the familiar and uncanny collide, with the familiarity of a city structure, but the absence of bustling life and creativity you would expect. A heterotopia describes a space which has more layers of meaning or relationships that meets the eye. Chernobyl certainly fits the bill of a heterotopic place as its health implications spread out of Ukraine and into Belarus and Russia and still have impacts on the lives of people in this area of Eastern Europe 30 years later. Among residents of these countries, as of 2015 there were almost 20,000 cases of Thyroid cancer reported in children and adolescents exposed at the time of the accident. Approximately 5000 of these cases can be attributed to drinking milk from cows who ate grass contaminated with radiation in the weeks after the accident (Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, 2022) This reflects anxieties that are apparent in 2023, with threats of Nuclear aggression often apparent in the news and media and also the crisis surrounding climate change. Chernobyl demonstrates to us what our planet would look like if Nuclear War materialised and the human race was wiped out, or if we do not act in time to save our planet from ourselves, putting into perspective how dangerous human beings are to our own existence. This is eerie even just to think about, let alone to walk around and experience for yourself. Although Chernobyl is perceived as a dark tourist site associated with death and disaster, it is fascinating to observe the way that nature had been able to flourish despite against the odds and take back the land, so it is possible to take away from the experience not only the tragic events that occurred at Chernobyl, but also a slither of hope for the future of our planet as nature defies all odds that humans cannot survive. 

A classroom at one of the 21 schools in town. Accessed via https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-22246328  

Pripyat’s concert hall now lies abandoned. Available via: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-22246328 

A public pool. November 4, 2017. Accessed via: https://www.ststworld.com/pripyat-ukraine/  

The Chernobyl Disaster May Have Also Built a Paradise. Accessed via: https://www.wired.com/story/the-chernobyl-disaster-might-have-also-built-a-paradise

The first tourists who had a desire to visit Chernobyl first began to arrive in the mid-1990s, once the radiation levels had fallen significantly, travelling mainly from the USA and Western Europe to visit the site (Hannam, K. and Yankovska, G, 2018, pp.207). Since this time the interest in tourism to Chernobyl has kept on growing. A trigger of interest in visiting the site which reflects the technological age we live in was ‘S.T.A.L.K.E.R: The Shadow of Chernobyl’, a 2007 first person survival shooter video game so it is no wonder this drew attention as gamers were able to experience the place they had seen in virtual reality, bringing it to life. The 2019 HBO series ‘Chernobyl’ was bound to have a similar effect. After watching the series, I found that it reflects the heartbreak of so many families whilst also delving into where the responsibility for the disaster lies and the legal proceedings that followed, it certainly made me eager to one day visit the site myself. It was reported that tourism companies experienced a 35-40% uptake in visitors (Katie Meller, 2019). This demonstrates the impact of technology and media on dark tourism in the modern day.  

So how safe is it to visit Chernobyl? 

Thrillseekers may enjoy the dangers associated with radiation when visiting Chernobyl, but how safe really is it to visit the site? In an interview with the Ukraines main radiation research hospital courtesy of Vice News, Larya Yanovych head of research analysis and planning department suggests that tourists who venture walk and go into buildings with vegetation, risk contamination of clothes and shoes and the danger of inhaling radioactive dust explaining that exposure to radiation can cause cell mutation and stimulate diseases your body is predisposed to. Generally though it is establised as safe to visit Chernobyl so long as tourists are respectful and the guidelines and stay on designated paths (Vice News, 2016, 6:06).  

Summary:

Overall, Chernobyl is arguably the most famous and most popular Dark Tourism site in the Western World, and it is no wonder as it is extremely unique and like no other place on earth, like stepping into a time machine back to a day of disaster. It is clear that modern day technology and media has had a huge influence on the expansion of the Dark Tourism demographic, through film, TV and gaming in this instance, as well as the increased ease of travel in our modern day world.

Bibliography:

Primary Sources:

Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (2022). Health Effects of the Chernobyl Accident – Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. [online] Nuclearsafety.gc.ca. Available at: https://nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/resources/health/health-effects-chernobyl-accident.cfm. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-22246328

https://www.dailysabah.com/world/europe/more-than-3-decades-later-chernobyl-a-place-of-tragedy-and-hope

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ebrd/9678672877  

https://www.insider.com/visiting-chernobyl-after-the-nuclear-disaster-2019-4#the-architecture-and-monuments-of-the-area-were-a-step-back-in-time-10  

https://www.insider.com/visiting-chernobyl-after-the-nuclear-disaster-2019-4#we-also-made-a-stop-by-the-fire-department-in-chernobyl-11

https://www.ststworld.com/pripyat-ukraine/  

https://www.wired.com/story/the-chernobyl-disaster-might-have-also-built-a-paradise

HBO (2019) Chernobyl (2019) | Official Trailer | HBO [Online Video]. 28th March. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9APLXM9Ei8

International Atomic Energy Agency. (2006). Chernobyl’s legacy: Health, environmental and Socio-economic impacts and recommendation to the governments of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. The Chernobyl forum 2003–2005. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency. Available at: http:// www.iaea.org/Publications/Booklets/Chernobyl/chernobyl.  

Olivia Alabaster (2019) Dark Tourism: What is drawing thousands to Chernobyl and Cambodias killing fields? The Independent [Online], 03 July. Available from: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/chernobyl-hbo-show-dark-tourism-auschwitz-killing-fields-cambodia-a8969611.html.

Vice News (2016) Holiday in Chernobyl: Tourism in the Exclusion Zone. [Online Video], 26^th April. Available at: Holiday in Chernobyl: Tourism in the Exclusion Zone

Secondary Sources:

Hannam, K. and Yankovska, G. (2018) Tourism Mobilies, Spectralities, and the Hauntings of Chernobyl. In: Stone, P. R. et al. (eds) The palgrave handbook of dark tourism studies. London, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-47566-4.  

Katie Mettler (2019) Ukraine wants Chernobyl to be a tourist trap. But scientists warn: don’t kick up the dust. Washington Post [Online], 12 July. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2019/07/12/ukraine-wants-chernobyl-be-tourist-trap-scientists-warn-dont-kick-up-dust/

Lennon, J. and M. Foley (2000) Dark Tourism: The Attraction of Death and Disaster. London: Continuum. Cited in: Bowman, M. and Pezzullo, P. (2009) “What’s so `dark’ About `dark Tourism’?: Death, Tours, and Performance,” Tourist Studies, 9(3), pp. 187–202. 

Mark Tungate (2017) A brief history of Ryanair. Management Today. [Online], 9^th November. Available from: https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/brief-history-ryanair/food-for-thought/article/1449458#:~:text=In%201990%2C%20Ryanair%20re%2Dlaunched,section%20of%20its%20own%20website.

Stone, P. R. (2013). Dark tourism, heterotopias and post-apocalyptic places: The case of Chernobyl. In L. White & E. Frew (Eds.), Dark tourism and place identity: Managing and interpreting dark places (pp. 79–93). London: Routledge.  

By Jack Matthews

“Pilgrimage in the traditional sense is an inner journey manifest in exterior space”

Singh, R (2006)

Known prior to the 1960s as ‘the overland’, a route that would connect London to Calcutta began to gain infamy among the young people of Europe, North America and Australia. More specifically the route would garner the attention of the ‘Hippies’ due to the abundance of drugs on the journey and the emphasis on passing through areas in which Hashish was readily abundant. Though it was not only the abundance of drugs that convinced the hippies to embark on a cross-continental excursion. Some wished to free themselves of the cultural confinement of the west, hearing stories of exotic cultures in the East in which the spiritual system was liberal and free. (Oliver, P. 2014) This blog will focus on the spiritual journey some undertook as well as the use of drugs such as Hashish to reach spiritualism.

Counter-Culture: The Creation of the Hippie and the Allure of Hinduism .

No other culture or religion aligned more with their beliefs than that of the Hindus in the east. Unlike Christianity in the west Hinduism had no single god to adhere to, the closest thing to a central god “Brahma” was less of a force to be obeyed and more of a guiding force. (P, Oliver 2014) Hinduism offered its followers a liberal framework to access spirituality, far from the 10 commandments of Christianity that many of the Hippies had been brought up on and had come to resent as being too rigid and conservative. After World War Two many Indian immigrants had moved to the west, bringing the teachings and stories of Hinduism with them, the allure of the exotic religion with its many gods had garnered a wide audience within Europe and North America. As can be seen with the ‘Bold as love’ album cover to the left by Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles visit to India in 1968, Hinduism has infiltrated music, art and pop culture. Where Richard Gregory (2008) makes clear that the Beatles trip to India was paramount in the success and popularity of the hippie trail.

Pilgrimage to Kathmandu

Some westerners that set out towards India on the hippie trail had a similar ambition to that of the Indian Pilgrims, often visiting the many holy sites across India as they went. The spiritual side of travel through India was often stressed by early travel books (Gemie and Ireland, 2017) , and thus many of those westerners who visited India often did so to experience the authentic culture and spirituality that was on display within India. It was not only the culture of India which travellers experienced, as Gemie and Ireland (2017) make clear the hippie trail east was defined by religion: passing through Christian lands in the west, through Muslim countries and eventually arriving in India which was home to Sikhs, Hindus and Buddhists. As Tim Maddrell, Avril Terry and Alan Gale (2015) account, the taking part in spiritual events such as walking with a large crowd down the Ganges gave them a feeling of togetherness, or being ‘at one’, a feeling the Hippies of sixties would have craved coming from a society that felt very much divided in the west. Furthermore, a pilgrimage in Hinduism has great transformative power (Singh, 2006), an idea that would have been greatly appealing to the hippies of the 60s, whose counter-culture was placing a great significance on the need to transform western society.

Whilst there were some who did intend the journey to be a pilgrimage, in many ways other than a complete religious one. First hand accounts from Richard Gregory published in 2008 recall that the people found on the hippie trail were wildly diverse: with some coming almost as a conventional tourist, coming across ‘the overland’ to see the world but not necessarily get lost in it. It is key to make the distinction between those who were on the trail to get lost in the various cultures along the way, what we would consider the ‘hippies’ and those who undertook the journey more as a holiday to see parts of the world they had never seen before: where the former would have been more inclined to view the journey as a pilgrimage. Though there were conventional ‘hippies’ that did not see the journey as a pilgrimage; Tony Walton (1973) recounts that the journey was more cultural than religious, with a large emphasis placed on the accessibility of various drugs along the trail, a topic that will be covered later in the blog. Though it should be said that whilst Walton’s journey did not place any emphasis on religion, the images he took whilst on the trail have a clear focus on the cultural and religious aspects of the places he visited, perhaps highlighting how much of a profound impact these different religions and cultures had on Walton.

Finding Spirituality: Drugs in Hippie and Hindu Cultures

One unifying aspect that both Hippie culture and Hindu culture shared was the use of psychedelics such as Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and Cannabis or ‘dope’ as the hippies called it. ‘Dope’ or more the use of it was a defining difference between those within the counter culture and those within establishment culture (Miller, T, 2011). Cannabis being an almost constitutive element of counter culture at the time it is easy to see how the Hippie trail enticed the western youth of the 1960s. Contrary to seeing the journey as a pilgrimage it is true that many of those who undertook the journey did so due to the relative cheapness and accessibility of substances such as cannabis (Walton, T, 1973) . In Richard Gregory’s (2008) words:  ‘what defined the Hippie Trail was that it led to the major hashish-producing centres of the world.’ and it was true, drugs such as cannabis and LSD had a huge draw for the hippies on the trail.

Though it is true that drugs were a primary draw for those embarking on the trail, it would be wrong to separate those who went on the trail due to the abundance of drugs and those who undertook a spiritual journey. Within both Hindu and Hippie societies the use of drugs is heavily linked with spirituality and religion. Since Veda times (500-1000BC) there are references to the use of a drug named ‘Soma’ in Hinduism for spiritual means, though it is not clear what exact drug is referred to, it is clear that Hinduism and drug use has a long and storied history (Oliver, P 2014). Similarly in counter-culture circles were setting up “Dope Churches” in the U.S such as Tim Leary’s League for spiritualism Discovery, in which psychedelics were used for the sole purpose of producing a religious experience (Miller, T, 2011). It is evident that the use of drugs within Hippie society was to a similar effect to that in Hindu society, and therefore whilst drug use on the hippie trail was extensive, it could be argued that its use was for a spiritual effect similar to that of the Hindus use of such drugs.

This is evident in David Tomary’s (1996) account of his experiences in India, prior to visiting India Tomary had no interest in India culture or Hinduism, even whilst there he felt ‘a great alienation from all but the educated and westernized Indians’. That was until his first experience with cannabis in India, after which his perception of the Indian people was changed. He felt like he had unlocked an understanding of Indian culture and could now properly experience it, although just one example it is a great example to show how the use of drugs within India and on the hippie trail was not always simply for the fun of it but it also allowed those taking them to almost ‘go native’ as Richard Gregory (2008) called it.

Summary

In conclusion, it is fair to say the spirit of the Hippie Trail was similar to that of a pilgrimage. It is interesting to see how how many similarities the hippies and the Hindus had, from basic core beliefs to the use of drugs to achieve spiritualism. Such similarities and the borderline obsession hippies had with Hindu culture is what has led me to believe that whilst the Hippie Trail was not a pilgrimage in a complete sense, and there were many on the trail who would not associate with the label of pilgrim, it did inhibit characteristics similar to that of a pilgrimage. It would seem to be more of a cultural pilgrimage if anything.

Bibliography

Primary Sources:

• David, T (1996) The Mountain: Darjeeling, Kathmandu. In: David, T ed. A season in Heaven: True tales from the road to Kathmandu. London: Harper Collins. 
• Gregory, R (2008) A brief History of the Hippie Trail: Overland to Asia in search of Hashish. [Online] Available from: A Brief History of the Hippie Trail – London to Kathmandu – Expanded (richardgregory.org.uk) 
• Walton, T (1973) On the Hippie Trail: Overland to India and Nepal in 1973. [Online] Available from: https://anarcholoco.wordpress.com/introduction/ 

Secondary Sources:

• Gale, A, Maddrell, T & Terry, A (2015) Sacred Mobilities: Journeys of belief and belonging. Farham: Ashgate
• Gemie, S & Ireland, B (2017) The Hippie Trail: A History. Manchester: Manchester university press. 
• Miller, T (2011) The Hippies and American values. Knoxville: University of Tennessee press. 
• Oliver, P (2014) Hinduism and the 1960s: the rise of a counter-culture. London; New York: Bloomsbury. 
• Singh, R (2006) Pilgrimage In Hinduism: Historical context and Modern Perspective. In: Timothy, D & Olsen, D eds. Tourism, Religion and Spiritual Journeys. New York: Routledge. 

When you are booking a holiday, you may embark on a cruise, a cultural holiday, or even a city break. However, the late 1930’s saw the package holiday take centre stage to become one of the most popular holiday options in Britain. A package holiday can be defined as a holiday that is organised by a travel agent and includes accommodation, transport arrangements and sometimes tickets to attractions or events. There are many factors in post-war Britain which caused the rise of the package holiday. The first is the harsh weather conditions that the British public were faced with as ‘the winter of 1946-7 in Britain had been the coldest on record’ (Spellman, 2020, n.p.) Consequently, there were electricity shortages, the government encountered problems importing coal and newspaper printing came to a halt. It is understandable that the British wanted to escape the cold and war-torn conditions that they were experiencing at home and with travel becoming more accessible allowed them to do just that. A move away from scheduled flights in favour of chartered flights gave people more freedom and choice, while ‘the Second World War had left even remote islands with a new asset: airstrips’(Lofgren, 1999, pp.173,) thus opening up new destinations for people to visit. Moreover, attitudes towards holidays themselves changed as they became more accessible to the masses.

Previously, the long 18^th century saw holidays to be associated with young, male elites with the educational expectations of acquiring new skills and broadening their knowledge. In post-war Britain, this was no longer the case because package holidays made them no longer a luxury, but something anyone could embark on regardless of their gender or class. The package holiday was able to offer the British a holiday in Spain, for example, ‘at a far less cost […] than dreary and cold vacations in their own homeland’ (Seth, 2006, 313.) Value for money was important to Britons going abroad which is shown through a British Europen Airways promoting package holidays for the summer of 1959. From the beginning of the brochure, readers are told that the holidays available are ‘cheaper than ever before’ (BEA, 1959) and this is a theme that is repeated throughout, showing that this was a predominant concern amongst British holidaymakers.

Don’t worry, you’re on holiday!

Picture your stereotypical Briton abroad, frantically searching for anywhere that serves a Full English breakfast and making no attempt to indulge in the local language or culture. According to Gavin Jack and Alison Phipps, when we are abroad, we ‘play the role of alienated moderns’ (Jack and Phipps, 2005, n.p) and this ultimately led to the package holiday to be standardised to create a sense that British holidaymakers were at home away from home. Orvar Lofgren explains the way in which the package holiday were designed was ‘meant to eliminate much of the anxiety-ridden skills of mastering foreign language proficiency, or the etiquette of public behaviour in hotels and restaurants.’ (Logfren, 1999, pp.205) which was reflected by Harry Ritchie’s account of his 1993 holiday to Fuengirola as he highlights that ‘you do not have to worry about how to work a foreign country […] because it’s all taken care of’ (Ritchie, 1993, pp.15.) It is true that this standardisation ran from the beginning of the package holiday to the very end. This is evident as soon as Ritchie stepped off his flight as ‘the Thomson woman pointed me through the door to another Thomson woman who pointed me to a bus ten yards away’ (Ritchie, 1993, pp.15) This shows just how regimented the package holiday was from the minute is began. The conformity continued as you would encounter the same tour guides and activities throughout the course of your stay. Ranging from the food and drink available, to claiming your sun lounger by the pool side, daily routines were important and a pattern which emerged due to a rise in the popularity of the package holiday.

Outside of the direct standardisation of the package holiday itself there were more ways to fulfil the need to make the surroundings feel familiar to the British people. British people seeking the feeling of Britishness played a huge role in shaping the package holiday. Figure 1 was taken in Majorca in the 1980s and if it wasn’t for the sun, it could be mistaken for being in Britain. After all, what gets more British than a pub named after a member of the royal family? Every detail of the image, including the use of the colours red, white and blue, are representative of a British audience. The fact that the takeaway, pub and shops are all positioned together emphasises how Britain was almost condensed to allow people to continue to experience their own country while on a package holiday. If that was not enough, British holiday makers could get their hands on ‘essential’ British products. Nowadays, your average Briton abroad would not survive a few hours without a tea bag and going back a few decades, the same can be said for British cigarettes and the daily newspaper. Luckily, the BEA travel brochure promoting package holidays informs readers that ‘English newspapers are on sale at most bookstalls. English cigarettes are obtainable too’ (BEA, 1959.) The availability of everyday British products introduced another layer of comfort to the package holiday. As British cigarettes in particular were on the more costly side, this was further achieved through the British taking their own products to use while on holiday.

Package holidays were not all filled with sunshine and sand

Perhaps it is easy for us to presume that the formulaic approach to the package holiday led to Britons abroad to have the same experiences. However, this was not the case as people could add their own meanings to their package holiday. While abroad, the British applied their beliefs and expectations to degrade what they saw. This is evident in comparisons made between the travel brochure and what they actually experienced while on their package holiday. The BEA travel brochure used descriptive language such as ‘Spain- where the sun blazes down all day, and the nights are balmy and star-studded’ (BEA, 1959,) presenting a utopian view of a package holiday. This is reinforced through the images used on the BEA travel brochure which show the idea of a paradise contrived brochure zone (Dann, 1996) which was done to show off the natural beauty and architecture of the countries. Figure 2 highlights the picturesque landscape of Austria with greenery and mountains which were romanticised in British literature at the time and by visitors. Similarly, Figure 3 gives readers a taste of the sunlit beaches and deep blue sea that British holidaymakers had the opportunity of visiting. On the other hand, Ritchie’s hotel that had ‘looked intriguing in the brochure’ (Ritchie, 1993, pp.19,) but upon arrival it was ‘ghastly’ (Ritchie, 1993, pp.19.) In his account, Ritchie continues to express his discontent of the conditions he was presented with. As a result, the contrast of the appealing imagery on the travel brochure and what people experienced   creates a division between the expectation versus reality. There was an element of risk to embarking on a holiday overseas which Richie exemplifies. If expectations were not met, the meaning that the package holiday had to the holidaymaker could change.

In addition, there are many instances in which British people presented themselves as superior to the locals. This is a criticism identified by Martin Farr who argues that package holidays results in a feeling of ‘moral superiority’ (Farr, 2013, pp.118.) While on a coach, Richie identifies that there is ‘obviously, on the left, another hotel and some very badly parked cars’ (Richie, 1993, pp.17) and it was the ‘badly parked cars that was our eventual undoing’ (Richie, 1993, pp.17) which led to complaints from fellow passengers. The use of the term ‘obviously’ is conveyed in a disapproving tone which suggests the locals were hindering his holiday experience by, as he presents them, being careless and inconsiderate. As representations of locals were missed in favour of promoting the British aspect of the package holiday, it suggests the way local life was imagined was artificial and unrealistic, resulting in a self-centred approach from Britons abroad.

The rise of the package holiday is important when assessing how travel has evolved. Although the standardization of this type of holiday created a sense of package holidays being a shared experience, they marked a transition towards independence and British people using them for purposes specific to the individual. Also, the feeling of Britishness became characterised by stereotypes, some of which we still see today while on a holiday outside of Britain. The package holiday becoming mainstream in British society due to it becoming affordable to people outside of the upper class, combined with the impact of the Second World War created conditions for the transformation of travel.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Sykes, H. (1980s) Photograph taken in Majorca, Spain [Online image] Available from: https://www.alamy.com/1980s-tourism-spain-magaluf-majorca-english-owned-bars-restaurants-image4114638.html [Accessed 26 March 2022]

Ritchie, H. (1993) Here we Go: a summer on the Costa Del Sol. London: Penguin.

British European Airways (1959), The Happiest Holiday of All.

Secondary sources

Dann, G. (1996) The People of Tourist Brochures. In Selwyn, The Tourist Image: Myths and Myth Making in Tourism. Chichester: Wiley, pp. 61-103.

Gavin, J, Phipps, A. (2005). Tourism and Intercultural Exchange: Why Tourism Matters. Channel View Publications.

Farr, M. (2013) The Lacunae of Heliosis: Package Holidays and the long 1970s. In Farr, Martin & Guegan, Xavier (eds) The British Abroad Since the Eighteenth Century, Vol. 1: Travellers and Tourists. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.117-138.

Lofgren, O. (1999). On Holiday: A History of Vacationing. University of California Press.

Seth, P. (2006). Successful Tourism Volume II: Tourism Practices. Sterling Publishers.

Spellman, W. (2020). A Concise History of the World Since 1945: States and Peoples. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Dark tourism has become a popular travel alternative over the years; ranging from 1816 and individuals visiting the battlefield of Waterloo, to the present day where people visit tourist destinations such as the 9/11 memorial in New York and the Dungeon visitor attractions . But this type of travel has faced criticism about its existence and purpose, as dark tourism is associated with the “memorialization of death and suffering” (Oxford languages, 2022). A main question that has arisen alongside the development of dark tourism is that should destinations that are “connected to some of history’s most devastating events be turned into tourist attractions?” (Dark Tourists, 2022). This question can be answered when taking into consideration two aspects. One aspect is if the attraction is treated by tourists as a way to commemorate events of the past and learn about its place in history; and the second aspect can be focused on the matter of the attraction making a profit and being used commercially. 

The battlefield of Waterloo:

The Battle of Waterloo occurred on the eighteenth of June 1815 and became a popular tourist attraction since its conclusion, as many people travelled to visit the battlefield. In some cases people visited it as the battle was still taking place. The destination itself represents a common form of thanotourism, as it allows tourists to be given the opportunity to see sites where mass or individual deaths have occurred (Seaton, 1999, p.131). Also, Waterloo became the center of a developing tourism industry and it was not unusual in the eighteenth and nineteenth century for places associated with dark tourism to be visited.

There are three accounts which can be analysed to show how tourists reacted to the battlefield. They are all first-hand accounts by Scott, Southey and Eaton and detail their experiences as being dark tourists. For instance, in Scott and Southey’s accounts, they both indicate how commercial the location has become, signalling that the attraction was used for making a profit. In addition, Seaton addresses that “local peasants set up stalls and sold relics” (Seaton, 1999, p.137) and Scott recalls in his account that “letters were taken from the pockets of the dead” (Scott, 1816) to be resold. This is reinforced by Southey, who explains that he “bought a French pistol and two ornaments of French infantry for 6 francs” (Southey, 1816:1903). From 1815 and onwards, locals sold items that they discovered and collected from the battle of Waterloo to act as compensation from the disruption that the conflict had caused them. In continuation, this can be related to tourist etiquette. For instance, buying souvenirs is viewed as an action that should be avoided. This is because if an increasing number of people take a memento, it decreases the respect that the attraction receives; which should be left intact and undisturbed (Dark Tourists, 2022). Alternatively, Eaton’s account does not focus on commercial elements but on emotional ones and she writes about how she connected to a location where death had recently occurred. Within this account it is clear that as a tourist, Eaton found her experience traumatic as she did not expect what she saw. For example, she expresses that “no monument points out to future times the spot where they expired” (Eaton, 1817:1888). This shows that she believes those who perished in battle should be commemorated, as it would educate people on the historical event and also allow them to reflect on the sacrifices that were made.

9/11 Memorial:

Speaking of Eaton believing that the battlefield of Waterloo should be treated as a site of commemoration, it can be said that the 9/11 war memorial in New York receives this treatment by the tourists that visit it. 9/11 occurred on the 11^th of September 2001 and involved four coordinated terrorist attacks being carried out, causing the death of “2,977 people” (9/11 Memorial & Museum, 2021). The location of the memorial is constructed in the site of the former World Trade Centre, which was destroyed during the attacks. When the decision was made to convert the site into a memorial, the “New York tourist board found it hard to approach its newest attraction” (Pilot guides, 2021). This is because, they did not want to appear “to be capitalising on the tragedy” (Pilot guides, 2021). In terms of dark tourism, it is stated that there is attractiveness about the dark that draws the attention of tourists.  In the case of the 9/11 memorial site, it can be classed as an experiential experience, because it permits people to see and witness the location of an event.

For the above slideshow: Images of 9/11 terrorist attack that occurred in 2001 and the memorial Image 1 –https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:National_Park_Service_9-11_Statue_of_Liberty_and_WTC_fire.jpg#/media/File:National_Park_Service_9-11_Statue_of_Liberty_and_WTC_fire.jpg Image 2 – https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/9-11_Memorial_South_Pool.jpg/640px-9-11_Memorial_South_Pool.jpg Image 3- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:9-11_memorial_pool.jpg#/media/File:9-11_memorial_pool.jpg

In addition, the memorial is known to this day of having the purpose to allow individuals to be able to pay their respects to those who lost their lives; but in 2001, after it was determined that the memorial would never be used in a commercial sense, questions did arise about the motive of tourists themselves. For instance, at the time, New York media viewed tourism as a ghoulish act towards social value, which followed a statement announced by the city’s mayor, Giuliani. Giuliani stated that the 9/11 “site was a crime scene, not a tourist attraction” (Dalton, 2014, p.153). A dark aspect of dark tourism is that human beings want to get their head around the complexity of inhumanity; meaning that they want to understand the occurrence of another’s behavior. According to Dalton, a tourists’ motivation for visiting the scene of the attacks in 2001 was fueled more by curiosity than as an act of commemoration; relating to both domestic and international tourists (Dalton, 2014, p.153).  Also Dalton continues by stating that tourists’ curiosity was not affiliated with “seeing where people died and taking some sort of morbid pleasure in the act” (Dalton, 2014, p.153), but associates their motivation with being interested in what “the site actually looks like, to make the event real” (Dalton, 2014, p.153). This shows that dark tourism is not always associated with commemoration or the act of making a profit, but includes people just wanting to see a site where a tragic event has happened so that they can experience the aftermath of the event for themselves.   

The Dungeon Attractions, UK:

In comparison to the battlefield of Waterloo and the 9/11 memorial in New York; the Dungeons attractions are considered as a form of “lighter dark tourism” (Sharpley and Stone, 2009, p.167), meaning that while it is associated with death and suffering, it has a high tourism infrastructure. In terms of the attraction itself, there are six Dungeon attractions around the UK, ranging from York, London and Edinburgh. Focusing on the London Dungeon, it is described as a thrilling attraction that allows visitors to “see, hear, feel and smell” (The London Dungeon, 2021) gruesome events of the city’s past. When taking into account the act of commemoration and the process of making a profit, it can be said that the Dungeons as a dark tourism attraction, incorporates elements of both. Expressed by Stone and Sharpley “official tourism marketing is progressively exploiting the commercial aspects of tragic history” (Stone and Sharpley, 2009, p.167) and viewed from a money-making perspective, the Dungeons are promoted to tourists in a way that shows them to be fun, and it is indicated that this strategy disguises the attractions dark nature.

In addition, the element of commemoration is still seen to be present in attractions treated as entertainment. According to Ivanova and Light, there are other motives aside from being curious. They state that these include “a desire for learning and understanding” (Ivanova and Light, 2018, p.357) and a “wish to connect with tragic events and a sense of obligation” (Ivanova and Light, 2018, p.357). This being said, it is implied from these statements that commemoration is a main factor as the Dungeon attractions teaches tourists about tragic events of the past through educative processes. This then leads to people remembering what they have learnt, but also remembering the tragic events that individuals had to live through in the past , which in some cases did result in death and suffering; such as the London Plague that is estimated to have killed around 68,596 people between the years 1665 and 1666 (National Archives, 2022).  

To contemplate if some of history’s most devastating events should be tourist attractions; by weighing up the evidence collected, it can be concluded that these attractions should exist. This is because by dark tourism being existent, events surrounding the occurrence of death in the past will not be forgotten by future generations; but this does not mean that these sites are always used for the correct purpose. The 9/11 memorial is a location that is focused on commemorating the individuals who lost their lives during the attacks in 2001 and it was made clear that it would exist as a place for people to be respectful. But this shows how dark tourism has developed over the decades, as in 1815, the accounts of Scott and Southey focus upon how the battlefield of Waterloo was appealing to tourists as a chance to gain souvenirs and for local peasants to earn compensation for the disruption that had been caused to their lives. Also in 1815 there were tourists who felt obligated to commemorate the lives of those who had been killed in the conflict and this is revealed through Eaton’s account. Furthermore, it can be said that the Dungeon attractions have more in common with the way that Waterloo was treated compared to the 9/11 memorial as even though the dungeons do make a profit off the many tourists that visit, they are teaching people about events that occurred in history and keeping the memory of them alive. Overall the purpose of dark tourism is associated to how locations are treated by the dark tourists.

Bibliography:

Primary Sources:

Eaton C (1817:1888) Waterloo Days: The narrative of an Englishwoman Resident at Brussels in June, 1815. London: George Bells & Sons

Dalton D (2014) Dark Tourism and Crime. Taylor and Francis: Oxfordshire. Pp.1-230

Ivanova P, Light D (2018) ‘“It’s not that we like death or anything”: Exploring the motivations and experiences of visitors to a ‘lighter’ darker tourism attraction.’ Journal of Heritage Tourism. Volume 13, Issue 4. Pp.356-369

Scott J (1816) Paris Revisited in 1815, By way of Brussels, Including a walk over the Field of Battle at Waterloo. Boston: Wells & Lilly

Seaton A.V (1999) ‘War and thanotourism: Waterloo 1815-1914.’ Annals of Tourism Research. Volume 16, Issue 1. Pp. 130-158

Southey R (1816:1903) A journal of a Tour of the Netherlands in the Autumn of 1815. London: Heinemann

(Eds) Stone P.R, Sharpley R (2009) The Darker Side of Travel: The Theory and Practice of Dark Tourism. Channel View Publication. Pp.1-275

Secondary Sources:

Dark Tourists (2022) ‘Welcome to Dark Tourists.’ Available <https://darktourists.com/home/&gt; Accessed: 21^st February 2022

9/11 Memorial and Museum (2021) ‘What happened on 9/11?’ Available <https://www.911memorial.org/911-faqs&gt; Accessed: 23^rd February 2022

Oxford Languages (2022) ‘Dark Tourism definition.’ Available <https://oxfordlanguages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/&gt; Accessed: 21^st February 2022

Pilot guides (2021) ‘Ground Zero & the phenomena of Dark Tourism.’ Available <https://pilotguides.com/articles/ground-zero-the-phenomena-of-dark-tourism/&gt; Accessed: 23^rd February 2022

The National Archives (2022) ‘Great Plague of 1665-1666.’ Available <https://wwwnationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/great-plague/&gt; Accessed: 24^th February 2022

The London Dungeon (2021) ‘What is the Dungeon?’ Available <https://www.thedungeons.com/london/whats-inside/what-is-the-dungeon/&gt; Accessed: 24^th February 2022

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Dark tourism has been tickling the taste (or more so travel) buds of Brits for hundreds of years. It is easy to assume that dark tourism is a new commodity and is only associated with those who wish to thrill-seek or have a passion for the macabre. However… whenever, and wherever death occurs, curious people tend to follow. This even dates back to 500AD whereby “the first identifiable phase of dark tourism in numbers was Christian Pilgrimage” (Seaton, 2018 p28) so dark tourism has basically been around forever!

There are many variables surrounding dark tourism so the chances are that you yourself can be classed as a dark tourist due to the complex definitions surrounding it. For those who may not understand nor have a fascination with death, dark tourism can subconsciously “invite us to recognise the fragility of life in general, as well as our individual mortality and relative insignificance in the universe” (Bowman et al, p189), making the very idea of dark tourism somewhat valuable to the human experience.

Fig 1 – Image of the Paris Morgue, a popular tourist destination in the 1800s. – Marlet, J. (before 1847). Morgue de Paris. Uploaded by: Garitan, G. (2014). Available: Wikimedia Commons.

What can be classed as dark tourism?

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According to Seaton (2009), a key researcher within dark tourist attractions, there are five key typologies; public enactment of death (this relates more to executions further back in history), mass death sites such as battle fields, war memorials, symbolic representations (like what you may see in a museum), and re-enactment. Many different ‘destinations’ or ‘sites’ can be put into these typologies, making them quite hard to define. Even though the dark tourist may not be consciously aware, nor thrill-seeking, it is still and has been an attractive reason for Brits to travel. People crave experience and visiting a dark tourist site allows them to empathise and be present in the history of the place. Furthermore, people may travel with the sense of collective identity, to honour those departed. Examples of this may include the National September 11 Memorial Museum and Auschwitz.

An early definition of dark tourism, curated by Seaton draws on dark tourism being to “travel to a location wholly, or partly motivated by the desire for actual or symbolic encounters with death” (Seaton, 1996 p240). However, he now describes that these places are engineered and orchestrated to remember mortality and fatality. Even though people visit these places may go out of symbolic reason or respectfulness, the place in question has been created to do so with reason and with commercialisation.
Within western historiographical terms, reasons for the visitation of such places can be due to ritualisation, antiquarianism and more aesthetically, romanticism. People like to romanticise what once was, leading to the fascination towards places that once were. There is also the potent value of viewing or learning about specific history up close, to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

There are many first-hand historical and modern accounts which describe different types of dark tourism for different reasons, yet each account holds the stark similarity of being both effected by their trip and showing the evident orchestration of places of death and or destruction:

The Past and the Present –

What were people’s experiences as dark tourists?

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The Battle Site of Waterloo:

Robert Southey visited the battle site of Waterloo the Autumn after its occurrence in 1815. In his recount he mainly speaks of the capitalisation of the battlefield, and the evident contrast compared to the realities of the battle, and what they were doing on the tour. He stated that they had “bread and cheese, wine and fruit” (Southey, 1816) in the same place where the “bone of one leg with the shoe on is lying above ground” (Southey, 1816) which shows the orchestration of this tour.

Even though this recount is from 1815, there are still elements of modern-day tourism, consolidating the idea that dark tourism and the engineering of it as a commodity has always and will always be around. Robert states that he purchased “a French pistol and two ornaments of the French infantry cap for six francs” (Southey, 1816) almost as if he were in a gift shop. This, along with dining on top of a potential burial site shows that the tour was planned as a form of leisure, and those selling items, and the tour itself could capitalise on the tragic battle.

Fig 3 – Film poster for a re-enactment of the Battle of Waterloo. By Daily Alaska Dispatch Newspaper. (1914). Battle of Waterloo 1914. Uploaded by: JKBrooks85. (2014). Available: Wikimedia Commons.

In Contrast to Robert Southey, Charlotte Eaton visited the battle ground in June 1815. She notes that “melancholy were the vestiges of death that continually met our eyes. The carnage here had indeed been dreadful” (Eaton, 1817) which shows the tour, and her surroundings had an extremely negative and profound effect on her. She further describes in detail the gruesome remains of horses and the evident death and destruction of which occurred at this site. Visiting this site as a tourist so soon after the atrocities, plays into the idea of morbid curiosity, and the need to be ‘self-involved’ in an event. Charlotte saw “piles of human ashes that were heaped up, some of which were still smoking” (Eaton, 1817) which to many would indicate that they were visiting too soon after the event. When travelling to dark tourist sites it is important to show respect and viewing fresh human ashes just because they wanted to visit can definitely be seen as disrespectful.

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone:

The Chernobyl disaster of 1986 left the city of Pripyat as a ghost town, due to the evacuation of people because of nuclear fallout. As time has progressed, the city has become to exemplify “darker aspects of scientific advancement and human experience and its ability to lure increasing number of tourists” (Yankovska, 2014 p935) as a dark attraction site.

Even though there is a lure for tourism, it is important to keep in mind and be respectful of the people who still reside at this dark tourist destination. In the case of Chernobyl, people who avoided the evacuation protocols still live in the exclusion zone and “rely on food from their gardens and the surrounding forest, including large and abundant mushrooms” (Kingsley, 2021) to survive. They also live around extremely high levels of radiation which is extremely health damaging. For someone to travel there as a dark tourist, whether their main goal is to thrill-seek or educate themselves, it can be seen as encroaching on these people’s lives, and almost romanticising what is in fact a very dangerous situation for those that decided to stay.

Fig 4 – Tourists visiting the Exclusion Zone. By Gilliland, C. (2014). Pripyat. Available: Wikimedia Commons.

In 2019, travel blogger Stephanie Hollman shared her experience of visiting the Chernobyl exclusion zone. She stayed there for a number of days and was given tours round the abandoned hospitals and saw “remnants of daily life” (Hollman, 2019) that were damaged by the disaster. Just like the Waterloo accounts from 1815, there were both examples of engineered tourism, and profoundly negative ‘thrilling’ emotions present on the trip.

For the first part she describes not feeling much emotion, until the stark realities of human life came to fruition. Entering Pripyat, where the disaster occurred, she found it “surreal to stalk around an abandoned city of a former 50,000 inhabitants and not see another soul (Hollman, 2019) which shows she felt profound emotions, as well as just wanting to ‘thrill-seek’.

The feelings she experienced whilst exploring are indicative to the general experience of the dark traveller, whether intending to thrill-seek or not. It is common to be faced with artefacts of loss and death as “feel a sense of anxiety and vulnerability about death in ways that can challenge senses of self” (Light, 2017 p289) as seeing this made her re-evaluate her lack of feelings on the trip.

This extract from her blog post demonstrated the idea of the tour being engineered with guests in mind, rather than the place being cut off and labelled only as a place of history. Having amenities such as WIFI and being able to have traditional food and drink (Just like Robert Southey in Waterloo) commoditises the disaster site, turning it into a strictly tourist space.

Check out her full blog post here

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As suggested within these different accounts of dark tourism, the main aspect, aside from the commodification of the sights is the “remembrance of the death and the dead, induced by symbolic representations” (Seaton, 2018 p24) and that some people visit these places to feel like they are part of the history. However, the idea of being a ‘dark’ tourist does not always mean to be gruesome and negative. It is important that “dark places cannot be considered solely as vehicles of reflection on death” (Buda et al, 2020 p681) more so a place of history and great importance to remember that the people involved once lived, and often came to a horrific end.

Bibliography

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Bowman, M AND Pezzullo, P. (2010). What’s so ‘Dark’ about ‘Dark Tourism’?: Death, Tours, and Performance. Tourist Studies. 9 (3), 187-202.

Buda, M D. AND Martini, A. (2020). Dark tourism and affect framing places of death and disaster. Current Issues in Tourism. 23 (6), 679–692.

Eaton, S (1817: 1888) Waterloo Days: The Narrative of an Englishwoman Resident at Brussels in June 1815. London: George Bell & Sons.

Hollman, S. (2019). My Experience Visiting the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Available: https://travanietravels.com/chernobyl-reflections/.

Kingsley, J. (2021). Life goes on at Chernobyl 35 years after the world’s worst nuclear accident. Available: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/life-goes-on-chernobyl-35-years-after-worlds-worst-nuclear-accident.

Light, D. (2017). Progress in dark tourism and thanatourism research: An uneasy relationship with heritage tourism. Tourism Management. 61 (1), 275-301.

Seaton, T. (2018). Encountering Engineered and Orchestrated Remembrance: A Situational Model of Dark Tourism and Its History. In: Stone, R P The Palgrave handbook of dark tourism studies. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 22-33.

Seaton, A. V. (1996). Guided by the dark: From thanatopsis to thanatourism. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 2(4), 234–244.

Robert Southey (1816: 1903) A Journal of a Tour of the Netherlands in the Autumn of 1815. London: Heinemann

Yankovska, G. AND Hannam, K. (2014). Dark and Toxic Tourism in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Current Issues in Tourism. 10 (17), 929-939.