Image source: Britannica
Over the past year, there has been an increase in interest in Dark Tourism, with visitors becoming more interested in destinations associated with tragedy and death. People have visited these locations because they want to take the less-travelled path and learn about how nature, life and civilizations have survived over time.
Here are the top 5 dark tourism destinations to visit this year
1. 9/11 Memorial, New York
The world’s top dark tourism destination is located in Lower Manhattan, New York. It is one of the most visited tourist attractions, with about 10 million visits in the first two years of its opening, which opened on the tenth anniversary of the attacks. The museum must be one of the most magnificent dark-themed museums ever established anywhere.
2. Concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland
The genocide of Germany’s Jewish people was one of the worst tragedies of World War 2. During World War II, one of the biggest German concentration camps was located in Auschwitz. Between 1.1 and 1.5 million individuals have been estimated to have been killed by the Nazis there.
3. The Titanic wreck site, North Atlantic
Claimed to be the ship that would never sink, it sank on its first voyage, making it one of the worst accidents in history. The remains of the biggest disaster were documented and featured in numerous books, documentaries and films. On the centenary of the ship’s sinking in 2012, tourists embarked on an adventurous journey that allowed them to reach depths of up to 4000 meters in a specially designed submersible.
4. Volcano Creeks, Pompeii
In 79 AD, the Vesuvius volcano exploded, destroying the whole ancient city of Pompei. The city is totally ‘petrified’ as a result of the hot lava that fossilized bodies of the disaster victims. The victims’ remains, as well as the ruins of the ancient city, are among Italy’s most popular tourist sites.
5. Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan
How many travellers visit Hiroshima each year? The annual figure is close to two million. The location, where the atomic bomb was first dropped at the end of WWII, witnessed one of the greatest tragedies in human history. The huge haunting Hiroshima shadows are the outlines of victims who were going about their normal lives when the bomb went off.