Shadow Trails: Adventures in Dark Tourism

It was only while compiling this collection of travel articles that the theme of ‘dark tourism’ became apparent. It wasn’t that I had deliberately set out to write about the darker side of tourism, or that these are the only places I have visited, but that those destinations seemed the most interesting to write about - as well as casting light on the business of international tourism, ‘dark tourism’ also reveals much about the nature of travel itself.

Of course many historical tourist attractions could be seen as ‘dark’ in some ways, in that they are only deemed to be worthy of reverence through their association with regime changing war, revolution and murder. What actually appears to signify ‘dark tourism’ is not so much a curiosity for the horrors of reality as - that like a joke shunned as distasteful – it is simply considered ‘too soon’. But it is this very immediacy that makes the experience of ‘dark tourism’ both relevant and relatable.

Many might feel uncomfortable with the concept of ‘dark tourism’ but it is important to remember that as well as the desire for the money that international tourism often brings in to neglected areas, and the need to feel connected to a wider world, that both the sellers and consumers of ‘dark tourism’ are also often driven by a desire to bring these dark realities to light.