From ancient times, people have been drawn to the sites of past battles to pay their respects, learn about history, and gain a deeper understanding of the sacrifices made by those…
Abstract
From ancient times, people have been drawn to the sites of past battles to pay their respects, learn about history, and gain a deeper understanding of the sacrifices made by those who fought. Today, battlefield tourism is a popular way for people to connect with the past and honor those who served their countries. Battlefield tourism is a significant component of war tourism and is not a new phenomenon (Smith, 1996). Even before the concepts of dark tourism or thanatourism emerged, studies were mostly carried out within the scope of heritage tourism at battlefields and war-related sites. However, with the increasing interest in the macabre and morbid aspects of history, dark tourism has gained popularity as a distinct form of tourism, encompassing sites related to death, tragedy, and disaster.
The debate about how to interpret war or how battlefield tourism relates to death is not new, and many studies on battlefield tourism compare and contrast various aspects of travel, whether they are dreary, educational, or enjoyable. To examine battlefield tourism from a historical perspective, firstly conceptually, it is necessary to consider how it has been perceived from the past to the present and what structures are involved. This section aims to examine the tourism of the battlefields from a historical perspective. In this context, at the first stage, its development in the literature was examined from a conceptual point of view, and then the turning points where tourism activities started were discussed.
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Dark tourism is a new coinage rooted in the perception of tourism activities at the sites or destinations connected to phenomena that bear varied, flexible, dynamic, diverse, and…
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Dark tourism is a new coinage rooted in the perception of tourism activities at the sites or destinations connected to phenomena that bear varied, flexible, dynamic, diverse, and graded dark shades of life and civilization. It is now customary to subsume it within the sets of niche tourism. Some dark tourism sites attract visitors and generate sizable amounts of revenue, yet most of the world does not register much demand compared to other niches. Accordingly, promotion pursuit turned crucial to draw the market’s attention, creating its competitively distinct position.
Indeed, inherent issues, such as conceptual multiplicity within nature, aspect, attribute, and product paradigm, turn dark tourism into a complex phenomenon and put a challenge toward creating its distinct market position. Additionally, contradictions in semantic and functional significances, conflicts in framing morbid memory and authentic portrayal, variances in ethical, cultural and ideological interpretations, transition of liminal space identity, and diverse focuses in stakeholder engagement in imaging impede efforts to transform dark tourism attractions into a significant driver of tourism.
This chapter will locate and address the issues that challenge the marketability of dark attractions and dark tourism promotion more directly, with attention to the Indian context.
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This paper provides an overview of the visiting friends and relatives category in international tourism researchover the last decade. It was delivered as a keynote paper at the…
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This paper provides an overview of the visiting friends and relatives category in international tourism researchover the last decade. It was delivered as a keynote paper at the international conference, “VFR Tourism: Issues and implications” held at the Victoria University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia, in October 1996.
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Fabian Müri and Anaïs Sägesser
This paper makes a contribution to the exploration of the travel type “Visiting friends and relatives (VFR)”, which is a relatively new field of research. The demarcation and the…
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This paper makes a contribution to the exploration of the travel type “Visiting friends and relatives (VFR)”, which is a relatively new field of research. The demarcation and the differences between VFR and other types of trip are the focus of attention of this study. Thus the research goal is to delineate the linking up of VFR with other travel types. Using data from an extensive and representative travel survey covering 2,000 households and more than 11,000 trips, this study found that about one third of the Swiss VFR travelers use commercial accommodation. Although researchers have found in other studies, that VFR type travelers tend on spending more money on meals and catering this could not be confirmed. It was also found that VFR travelers do not have a higher duration of holidays than other travelers. Besides this study determines that VFR is a truly independent travel type. Therefore it has to be looked at separately and not in connection with other travel types.
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War is one of the worst characteristics of human nature. Wars over territory, religion, and governance were and are always present through history. War and tourism seem dissonant…
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War is one of the worst characteristics of human nature. Wars over territory, religion, and governance were and are always present through history. War and tourism seem dissonant at first glance. However, the post effects of war enable its components, such as battlefields and artefacts, to become tourist attractions. People share the impetus to visit war attractions such as battlefields, military museums, cemeteries, memorials, and other war-related sites. There is a supply for this type of tourism in exchange for the demand. This type of tourism is referred to in the literature as battlefield tourism. The meaning and definition of battlefield tourism are the main aim of this chapter. What is battlefield tourism? What are the components of battlefield tourism? How can battlefield tourism be defined? These are the primary questions this study tries to address.
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Seda Sökmen, Aslı Bendenay Çapa and Semra Günay
In dark tourism, professional tourist guides are the primary intermediaries interacting with travelers. Guides provide them with an immersive and educational experience by drawing…
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In dark tourism, professional tourist guides are the primary intermediaries interacting with travelers. Guides provide them with an immersive and educational experience by drawing on many different fields such as history, geography, and literature in their narratives. They use a variety of sources in these fields to enrich their narratives, and literary works are one such source that can be particularly valuable. By drawing on the insights and inspiration from literary works, tourist guides can create engaging and memorable narratives that deepen visitors’ understanding of the local culture and heritage. The battlefield is one area where such enriched narratives are essential. Wars that have occurred in locations with both cultural and historical significance are well documented in national and international tourism literature. The way these battlefields are shown is novel. From this perspective, this study aims to: firstly, investigate battlefields that have not received sufficient attention, utilizing novels as underexplored literary sources; secondly, to analyze these sources through geo-literary reading, a relatively novel approach. The development of tour routes in five provinces in Turkey (Ankara, Eskişehir, Bilecik, Kütahya, and Afyon), where significant battles occurred during the national struggle over a period of four years, aims to provide travel companies with innovative tour programs for the global market and to facilitate the planning of specialized battlefield training for guides in these regions.
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Jeetesh Kumar, Janitha Kularajasingam and Zhang Jieyao
Generally, dark tourism is considered an area of segment currently being developed within the tourism industry due to its sudden popularity. Dark tourism is related to death…
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Generally, dark tourism is considered an area of segment currently being developed within the tourism industry due to its sudden popularity. Dark tourism is related to death, disaster, tragedy, and suffering. Nevertheless, the association has yet to be thoroughly researched. Thus, this study investigates the relationship between the marketing strategies employed in the dark tourism industry. This study explores the cinema or short web series/TV serials on dark tourism. In addition, the current development in entertainment media and the sudden rise of streaming platforms, social media, iCloud, content marketing, virtual influences, and bloggers in dark tourism play a pivotal role in this era. Thus, this study will investigate the relationship between these roles in dark tourism. The noticeable findings of this research are also to understand further roles within the marketing strategies that further affect dark tourism. Secondary data were explored to achieve the purpose of the study. This study has contributed to the body of knowledge regarding dark tourism and marketing strategies by providing in-depth information that will benefit scholars, tourism planners, and policymakers.
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While the battlefield means danger to some people, it may mean excitement and adrenaline for others. Battlefields can also carry the meanings of a mirror of history, a place of…
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While the battlefield means danger to some people, it may mean excitement and adrenaline for others. Battlefields can also carry the meanings of a mirror of history, a place of commemoration, and respect. At the same time, it is a market and marketing area for travel providers that respond to changing human needs. Many studies mention that battlefields can mean different things for each individual. This section gives the supply and demand size of battlefield tourism that will meet all these meanings. The supply and demand for the battlefields are tried to be expressed by giving both the place of the visit-oriented research on the battlefields in the literature and the protected and surviving battlefields and related structures in the world.
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Terrance Ancheary, Puneet Mehta and Anish Mondal
Dark tourism, a phenomenon encompassing visits to sites associated with death, suffering, and historical atrocities, has gained increasing scholarly attention in recent years…
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Dark tourism, a phenomenon encompassing visits to sites associated with death, suffering, and historical atrocities, has gained increasing scholarly attention in recent years. This chapter explores the concept's historical roots, motivations for engagement, and its transformative impact on heritage sites, culminating in a case study of the Malcha Mahal Haunted Heritage Walks in Delhi. Despite being abandoned for centuries, this historic site gained prominence with the occupation by the self-proclaimed royal family of Oudh in the 1980s. The introduction of the Haunted Heritage Walk by Delhi Tourism aimed to harness the dark tourism potential of this previously neglected monument. However, initial challenges such as deteriorating conditions and safety concerns necessitated collaborative efforts with government departments for conservation and site preparation. Interviews with visitors revealed diverse motivations for attendance, ranging from thrill-seeking to appreciation of the monument's historical significance. Since the walk's inception, conservation efforts have commenced, accompanied by landscaping initiatives and amenities for visitors. While the future conservation and tranquility of Malcha Mahal remain uncertain amid increasing tourist interest, its transformation into an alternative destination within Delhi underscores the potential of dark tourism to revitalize neglected heritage sites. Sustainable tourism planning is essential to preserve the monument's unique features and manage tourism while maintaining its integrity for future generations.