DARK TOURISM MANAGEMENT

Dark Tourism Management ...

With Dark Tourism becoming a huge phenomenon, the management of the sites should not be overlooked as they attract a large number of tourist’s figures. There are many things that need to be taken into consideration when managing a Dark Tourism site, as people cannot manage it like any other tourist attraction. For example, when hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans back in 2005 the number of ‘disaster tourists’ they were faced with increased a lot. Around 30 tour companies were offering tours to tourists with the backing of the local council. The locals didn’t like all of the tourists that were coming through, 'we’re fed up and tired of them coming through the neighbourhood like we're some sideshow’ (Daily mail, 2012). With all of the complaints the council started fining the tour companies but believe there is room for compromise. This is a good example of were the management has been overlooked and not taken into the consideration of who it may be affecting. ‘There is, therefore, a need to manage such places appropriately based upon an understanding of and respect for the manner of the victim(s) death, the integrity of the site and, where relevant, the rights of the local community in the context of the meaning or significance of the individual(s) concerned and the place of their death to those wishing to visit. It may sometimes be necessary to control or restrict access to a site’ (Sharpley & Stone, 2009).

There are many issues within the management of Dark Tourism sites. These include:

Different audiences which have different meanings of visiting.
Conflict and misunderstandings due to the different meanings and motivations of the tourists.
Management of otherness – how not to reduce it by providing modern and up to date visitor services.
Mortality – whether the site should profit from what has happened there, whether they should profit from death.
Question whether Dark Tourism sites should have an entrance fee or whether they should be free of charge for tourists.
Tourism development impacts on the local communities – visitor numbers and degradation of the local environment.
Question how far to go with up keeping the site – whether to tidy/clean overgrown an wild spaces.

(Stone & Shapley, 2006)

One of the recurrent problems with thanatourism is that of appealing to several different kinds of audience, who may have different relationships to the represented subjects whose story is being told.

(Stone & Sharpley, 2009)