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