Example Of Dark Tourism

Black spot Robben Island

The death of former South African president Nelson Mandela has sparked an increase in visits to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison (http://www.easyvoyage.co.uk, 2013). Robben Island in South Africa is a good example of a dark tourism attraction.

Increasing number of tourists looking for unique experiences (NRIT, Nederlands Research Instituut voor Recreatie en Toerisme , 2012). They want to experience something out of the ordinary. Therefore, dark tourism destinations such as Robben Island are growing in popularity and attract more and more visitors (Coldwell, 2013).

Dark Tourism

Dark tourism is a special type of travel to places, which are associated with tragedy, death and suffering. (Foley, 1996) The term ‘dark tourism’ was introduced in 1996 by professors John Foley and Malcolm Lennon of Glasgow Caledonian University. Nevertheless, the phenomenon dark tourism can be seen as much older. It has elements of the ancient. Public executions in the Middle Ages were a popular social event. Groups of wealthy people travelled already to the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Another example of an early form of dark tourism would be the fights between the gladiators in the Roman era.

Over the past twenty years dark tourism has become more diverse (Stone P. , 2006). Dark tourism destinations are prisons, battlefields, sites of genocide and natural disasters such as the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz, Ground Zero in New York and The Killing Fields in Cambodia (Kuukasjärvi, 2006). There are many types of dark tourism. Dark sites can be divided into multiple shades of dark tourism. According to Stone (2006), there is a ‘dark tourism spectrum’. Seven dark suppliers have been intr...

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...ulture (Shades of dark tourism, Alcatraz and robben island, Strange and Kempa). With the recent passing of Nelson Mandela at 5th December 2013, tourists are more eager than ever to visit Robben Island (http://www.stylehiclub.com/africa/south-africa/visiting-robben-island/).

Robben Island was declared a World Heritage site in 1999, because the place is a physically reminder of the price that was paid for South Africas freedom. Despite the brutality of the apartheid, the organisation of Robben Island will not want Robben Island to be a monument of hardship and suffering. They want Robben Island to be a monument, that shows the power of the human spirit, freedom and the victory of democracy over oppression (south African History http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/robben-island).

Robben island is worhtwhile visiting for those who are interested in dark tourism sites.