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To what extent may sites of death be tourism destinations? The cases of Hiroshima in Japan and Struthof in France

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Abstract

Among the different categories of tourism, one remains mysterious and controversial: visiting sites related to death, atrocity and disaster, known as ‘dark tourism’. This phenomenon has been in existence for a long time, but seems to be more fashionable nowadays. But why is it so successful? What attracts people to a contemplation of such depressing places? Can we now consider and visit all sites related to death or disaster as tourist sites? Currently, a great deal of leisure opportunities are available to people and it seems that few activities are really prohibited or limited. Nevertheless, even if this form of tourism is now widely accepted, it is not as simple a form of tourism as it seems. Theories developed in this area will be ‘tested’ through two empirical cases studies conducted on visitors to a former WWII concentration camp situated in France (the Struthof camp) and to the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima in Japan. This research shows that things are not always what they seem.

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Correspondence to Noureddine Selmi.

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Selmi, N., Tur, C. & Dornier, R. To what extent may sites of death be tourism destinations? The cases of Hiroshima in Japan and Struthof in France. Asian Bus Manage 11, 311–328 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1057/abm.2012.7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/abm.2012.7

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