#BTColumn – Dark tourism: a perspective for the Caribbean

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today.

by Roland Lashley

On occasion, tourism has exposed its vulnerabilities where the industry has been repeatedly tested by external threats like terrorist attacks, natural disasters and health pandemics. The latter being one of the most significant challenges the industry has ever faced. Consequently, Destinations Management Organisations (DMOs) are plagued with the daunting task of innovating to maintain a competitive advantage.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the temporary disruption of tourism and travel, leaving our tourism-dependent region, in complete disarray as tourism demand has plummeted.

Therefore, the Caribbean region, now more than ever, is impelled to be proactive and solution-oriented as we explore avenues to craft our resurgence. I proffer that Special Interest Tourism offers such an opportunity.

Although the term gained traction in the late 1990s and early 2000s; Special Interest Tourism is by no means a new concept to the realm of tourism and travel.

The idea far predates the name. Persons had been travelling for specific reasons from as far back as the Grand Tour in the 17th century. From inception, particular interests have been the driving force of tourism, acting as a pull factor to respective destinations/regions.

Typical to what happens throughout the Caribbean region, where Carnival-goers, from around the world, travel to Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival and here to our Crop Over Festival, for the heritage and cultural influence.

In the Caribbean, year-round tropical weather and rich heritage and culture, paired with award- winning hotels and restaurants, and pristine beaches have made the region competitive and highly sought after by western travellers.

Nevertheless, the uncertainty surrounding the resolution of the COVID-19 pandemic undermines the region’s tourism ecosystem. Consequently, I can’t help but ask: Can Special Interest Tourism play a substantial role in the successful Post-COVID-19 rejuvenation of Caribbean Tourism? Perhaps!

Tourism is no longer dictated by relaxation, as there has been an unprecedented shift, favouring experiences. Today’s travellers are driven by curiosity, which inadvertently promotes learning. This shift is substantiated through the growth and dominance of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in tourism.

It is now the Modus Operandi for travellers to make their experience(s) tangible by uploading photos and video clips to Social Networking Sites like Facebook, Instagram and TripAdvisor. Therefore, tourism is now driven by profound experiences which offer content generation opportunities.

The relevance is denoted by a growing number of people endeavouring into a postmodern facet of Special Interest Tourism, referred to as Dark Tourism, which provides unique experiences that generates great interest among experiential travellers. In summary, Dark Tourism is predicated on tourism motivated by an interest in death, disaster and atrocity.

As this subset of Special Interest Tourism has been progressively growing, more and more destinations have developed visitor attractions out of these past atrocities.

This is exemplified globally through major international Dark Tourism sites such as Ground Zero in New York City, Auschwitz Concentration Camps in Poland, which have seen millions of visitors; and other popular sites like the Chernobyl disaster site in Ukraine, and Aokigahara Suicide Forest in Japan.

When I think of Dark Tourism with respect to the Caribbean, Slavery is the first thing that comes to mind. The Caribbean played a pivotal role in Chattel Slavery; renowned as a period of oppression and extreme cruelty.

Therefore, the strategic development of Chattel Slavery (Sugar Plantations) as Dark Tourism sites, if developed and promoted correctly, can be used to create socio-economic benefits for the region.

This horrific aspect of our past offers an opportunity to attract visitors whilst cementing our ability to tell our story and share our heritage.

For clarity, the general idea here is to offer experiences which will elicit a sense of pride from locals while being educationally and aesthetically stimulating to visitors.

By doing this, similar to the legend of Polish Hero Witold Pilecki; the tales of our beloved Bussa and Jamaica’s Samuel Sharpe, to name a few, can gain widespread recognition.

Importantly, the notion is not solely focused on the commodification of these experiences, but also to capitalise on the opportunity to educate and offer enlightenment through restored content (photographs and video footage) and strategic, yet entertaining, dramatisations of life during these periods.

In addition to the countless number of historically relevant sugar plantations throughout the Caribbean, there are many other prospective Dark Tourism sites with thought-provoking stories. For example, the Coral Garden Massacre in Jamaica, and the unexplained happenings in the Chase Vault here in Barbados.

The success of the aforementioned major Dark Tourism attractions, should, at least, highlight the potential for the region to package and promote our respective experiences as indigenous Caribbean experiences.

So why are we not maximising the opportunity to develop these indigenous experiences strategically? I sincerely hope the answers extend beyond pundits.

There will always be presuppositions about Dark Tourism as another capitalistic tourism commodity; nevertheless, in the tourism industry, the outcome is almost always income, so to speak.

Despite being perceived as rife with tumultuous arguments concerning the exploitation of others’ misfortunes, Dark Tourism supporters can easily allude to instances of persons travelling to visit Dark Tourism sites to pay respect and learn about tragedies, resulting in empathy and compassion for what has occurred.

Dark Tourism offers Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean region opportunities to attract, educate and entertain a new market of visitors while economically strengthening their respective economies, and the region on the whole.

At the same time, we would be strengthening linkages with the education sector and gaining a better understanding of our heritage.

There is relatively limited literature surrounding Dark Tourism, especially in the Caribbean region. As we take this time to reset, I proffer that making inroads into Dark Tourism is a viable opportunity for research and strategic development.

Roland Lashley BSc., MSc., is a tourism strategist.