When planning my vacations I normally pick somewhere where it is normally warm and close access to water near that location. For some reason though, others choose their vacation spots with other things on mind. The prevalence of dark tourism is really intriguing to me. The idea death and disaster can seem likely for some but for what reasons? Certain people like the thrill of knowing and experience areas where things went wrong. It is human nature to go against the norm not just when it comes to vacation spots but life in general. I guess you can compare horror movies, why do people like horror movies? My explanation is that psychologically people like the setting that they are put in. Oftentimes, places in horror movies are unrealistic and this is the only way people are able to experience it. Traveling to dark places might interest people because where or when else in your lifetime will you get to travel to for example Chernobyl. Many people died when things went wrong at Chernobyl and you see today that tourists want to experience that area. The radiation is still active and won’t let people get too close to the area but you still see many people travel to that location anyway. Another explanation for dark tourism could be that certain people want to pay their respects and tribute to the ones that passed in an unfortunate event. If someone knew another person then it could be very likely that they would want to visit that same spot.
A worker stands inside the control room of a nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl Power Plant. The infamous explosion occurred at a reactor nearby. Gleb Garanich/Reuters
World Tourism Around The World 