What is dark tourism that Kerala Police is warning against in Wayanad (2024)

Endless green hills that roll gently into the horizon and are draped in lush tea plantations and waterfalls cascading down rocky heights. This is Kerala, God's Own Country, visited for peace and tranquillity. But the recent landslide in Wayanad has claimed the lives of at least 150 people. Kerala, which regularly promotes itself as a top tourist destination, send out a rare warning -- stay away. Kerala Police asked people to desist from dark tourism, which could hinder rescue efforts in Wayanad.

"Do not head to tragedy-hit spots for sightseeing. It will affect rescue operations. For help, please call 112," reads the message posted on the X handle of Kerala police.

In recent times, Kerala has witnessed people heading to tragedy and crime scenes to witness those first-hand.

A cloudburst has resulted in several people losing their lives and washing away houses and trapped people. The first landslide struck in Meppani, Mundakkai Town and Chooral Mala. A nearby bridge used to enter Attamala in Mundakkai also collapsed. Around 150 people lost their lives.

People wanting to see this site of horror and death is part of dark tourism prevalent worldwide. But what is it, and what are global hotspots for dark tourism or thanatourism?

TRAVELLERS' LOVE FOR THE DARKEST PLACES IN HISTORY

Visitors venture to some of the unhappiest historical spots on the earth, from Aushcwitz to Chernobyl, Gettysburg and to the place where US President John F Kennedy was assassinated.

But this phenomenon is far from new.

“There’s evidence that dark tourism goes back to the Battle of Waterloo where people watched from their carriages the battle taking place," J John Lennon, a professor of tourism who coined the term told The Washington Post.

Crowds even went to see public hangings in France.

The curiosity about dark tourism is increasing. There is a growth in visitors to places of tragedy.

Visitors are attracted to these places to understand the harsh realities of the political climate and wars.

According to a study published by Passport-photo.online, which surveyed over 900 Americans, 82% of the people had at least visited one of the dark tourism sites. Many said they preferred visiting "active" or former war zones. They said they would even want to visit Ukraine after the war ends.

Even in India, people visit sites like Port Blair's Cellular Hail, Uttarakhand's Roopkund Lake or Kuldhara of Jaisalmer to witness sites associated with tragedy or sufferings.

Cellular jail, once known as Kala Pani, was a prison in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is a national museum now. Many acts of cruelty inflicted by the British Raj were endured by the prisoners here. It is a memorial to our freedom fighters but also a site of the most sinister side of the Raj.

Roopkund lake in Uttarakhand has skeletal remains of many people. The origin of the remains is a mystery. Kuldhara village, in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer, is a historical site. Legends say all the people of the village vanished in one night. This happened as Salim Singh, the evil prime minister of the region, wanted to marry the daughter of the village head and declared he would do so without her consent.

The worldwide trend suggests that people are consciously deciding to go to these darker sites of history.

BREAKS ROUTINE, BECOME MORE CONSCIOUS, ASK QUESTIONS

This dark tourism or thanatourism trend suggests the decline of holidays as a form of escapism, reported The New York Times.

Philip Stone, the executive director of the Institute for Dark Tourism Research at the University of Central Lancashire, in England, told the Washington Post how the appetite for visiting these places is increasing.

“I think, for political reasons or cultural reasons, we are turning to the visitor economy to remember aspects of death and dying, disaster,” he said. “There is a kind of memorial mania going on. You could call that growth in dark tourism.”

He said in these places, we also see a reflection of ourselves.

“We’ve just got this cultural fascination with the darker side of history; most history is dark,” Stone said. “I think when we go to these places, we see not strangers, but often we see ourselves and perhaps what we might do in those circ*mstances.”

Experts are also saying that people will become more conscious of the future.

Stories about people visiting sites in the US where Hurricane Katrina had caused severe also led to social media outrage.

Most of these people are not just travellers. They ask meaningful questions about these places, Sian Staudinger, owner of Austria-based Dark Tourist Trips told the New York Times.

Many people who do not belong to war-stricken countries also break mundane routines by going to these places.

“When you’re part of a society that is by and large stable, and you’ve got into an established routine, travel to these places leads you to sort of feel alive,” Dorina-Maria Buda, a professor of tourism studies at Nottingham Trent University told the NYT.

DARKER SIDE OF DARK TOURISM

But dark tourism has darker sides.

In 2015, a 21-year-old student from Ohio, Otto Warmbier, was travelling with Young Pioneer Tours, which helps people to travel to Syria, North Korea, China and Iraq -- places associated with military regimes and war zones. He was accused of stealing a poster from a hotel wall.

He was detained for 17 months and, finally, when he was released, he was in a coma, and he died six days after returning to the US.

His family said he was tortured.

But this has not stopped Americans from touring the darkest spots of human history. They are curious, interested and excited to visit them. They are learning how to reconcile with darker sides of history and to do better in the future.

“I’m heartened by the fact that they choose to try to understand this difficult past,” said Professor Lennon.

Visitors and onlookers also come in the way of rescue and relief efforts. That is the reason why Kerala Police has asked people not to go to places struck by tragedy in Wayanad for dark tourism.