Death sites on tour bus routes

By AINSLEY THOMSON


Death, crime scenes and gore have always fascinated people - now they are being classified as a type of tourist attraction.

"Dark tourism" is the name given to the phenomenon that each day sees thousands of people flock to the scenes of famous deaths, such as the Paris tunnel where Diana, Princess of Wales died and the hole where the World Trade Centre once stood in New York.

Today, visiting dark tourism expert Richard Sharpley will address a tourism conference at Waikato University's Management School.

Dr Sharpley, from Northumbria University in Britain, became interested in the subject last year when English schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were murdered in the small town of Soham.

Each day he watched as thousands of "grief tourists" visited the town to bring flowers, light candles or simply stare - tour buses even made detours.

Dr Sharpley told the Herald yesterday that pure dark tourism was motivated by a fascination with death.

"It is a natural interest that most people feel, but some feel a need to follow more than others."

There was also the burgeoning market of virtual dark tourism. People could visit graphic websites featuring pictures of dead celebrities.

"The advantage of virtual dark tourism is that is anonymous," said Dr Sharpley. "It has a raincoat element. It's not quite healthy."

But he believes only a small percentage of people are interested in pure dark tourism.

People visiting war sites and the graves of celebrities such as singers Elvis Presley and Jim Morrison were not generally interested in death but the lives of the people and historic events, he said.

Dr Sharpley described it as shades of darkness. People went to such places to understand themselves better and the world they live in.

He said people had always attended gruesome events, such as public executions, or made pilgrimages to sites linked with death.

But the interest in such pursuits was increasing because people could travel more freely and the media publicised tragic events.

Dr Sharpley said pure dark tourism raised the question of ethics. Was it right to make money out of Ground Zero, the World Trade Centre site?

"Pure dark tourism should perhaps be discouraged. There is a strong case for controlling or managing how these places are marketed and presented."

So is there a market in New Zealand for dark tourism?

Dr Sharpley said it was a worldwide phenomenon and New Zealand was unlikely to be any different.

Tourism organisations say they are not aware of any pure dark tourism, but Land Wars sites and graveyards are always popular destinations.

* The Taking Tourism to the Limits conference at Waikato University began yesterday and ends tomorrow. More than 150 people, mainly academics, from throughout the world are attending.

Macabre tourism

* Thousands of tourists visit sites where famous - or infamous - deaths occurred, in an industry called "dark tourism".

* Pure dark tourist attractions include a re-enactment of one of the hijacked September 11 flights and last year's first public autopsy in Europe for 170 years.

* Virtual dark tourism promotes websites that feature dead celebrities.