dark tourism

American  

noun

1. tourist travel to areas affected by or associated with disasters or other public tragedies.

---

Etymology

Origin of dark tourism

First recorded in 1995–2000

Example Sentences

Even ghost tours — the lighter side of dark tourism — can present dilemmas for tour operators, said Andrea Janes, the owner and founder of Boroughs of the Dead: Macabre New York City Walking Tours.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 29, 2022

And yet his book is also a form of dark tourism, with doom hovering over each edible miracle.

From New York Times • Jan. 25, 2022

For me, coming to the Sand Creek Massacre site is not part of the dark tourism movement - visiting places connected to human tragedy just for the thrill of it.

From Washington Times • Feb. 19, 2020

With dark tourism, I would be very suspicious of a person who feels compelled to go to all those sites of suffering and misery.

From Salon • Sep. 24, 2019

Even attractions not specifically aimed at the dark tourism market manage to fit in a healthy dose of death and despair.

From BBC • Oct. 30, 2014