The Future of Dark Tourism: Enlightening New Horizons

by Philip R. Stone (Editor), Daniel W.M. Wright (Editor)

Overview

This book offers critical scenarios of dark tourism futures and examines how our significant dead will be remembered in future visitor economies. It aims to inspire critical thinking by probing the past, disrupting the present and provoking the future. The volume outlines key features of difficult heritage and future cultural trauma and highlights the role of technology, immersive visitor experiences and the thanatological condition of future dark tourism. The book provides a collection of informed observations of how future societies might recall their memorable dead, and how the noteworthy dead might be (re)created and retained through dark tourism. The book forecasts a dark tourism future that is not only perilous but also full of possibilities. It is a helpful resource for students and researchers in tourism, heritage, futurology, sociology, human geography and cultural studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781845418977
Publisher:	Channel View Publications
Publication date:	09/10/2024
Series:	The Future of Tourism , #8
Pages:	378
Product dimensions:	6.15(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Philip R. Stone is Director of the Institute for Dark Tourism Research (iDTR), University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), Preston, UK. He is the Editor of the International Journal of Dark Tourism Studies.

Daniel W.M. Wright is a Fellow of the Institute for Dark Tourism Research (iDTR), University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), Preston, UK. His research interests are dark tourism, thanatology, futurology, technology, heritage and cultural studies and tourism management.

Table of Contents

Contributors

Philip R. Stone and Daniel W.M. Wright: Preface: Dark Tourism Futures: Thoughts, Ideas, Scenarios

Chapter 1. Philip R. Stone: Vertopia: The Future of Dark Tourism Places and Our Digital Dead

Chapter 2. Rachael Ironside and Craig Leith: Virtual Afterlife: Dark Tourism in the Hereafter

Chapter 3. Santa Zascerinska: From 'Bucket List' to 'Afterlist': (Dark) Tourism for the Afterlife 

Chapter 4. Daniel W.M. Wright: 'Beyond Human': Dark Tourism, Robots and Futurology

Chapter 5. Özge Kılıçarslan, Mehmet Yavuz Çetinkaya and Kamil Yağci: The Future of Technology and Dark Tourism Experiences 

Chapter 6. Diāna Popova, Elizabete Grinblate and Raivis Sīmansons: Bridging Virtual Reality and Dark Heritage 

Chapter 7. Richard Fawcus: 'Virtual Monument Wars': The Digital Future of Difficult Heritage

Chapter 8. Marián Alesón-Carbonell: Language as a Mediator: Commodifying Future Dark Tourism

Chapter 9. Saffron Dale, Crispin Dale and Neil Robinson: 'McDeath' – A Future of Dark Travel and End of Life Palliative Care

Chapter 10. Alix Varnajot: Enlightening Dark Tourism Horizons in a Post-Apocalyptic Arctic: A Geopoetic Approach

Chapter 11. Maximiliano E. Korstanje: 'Shrines and Rites of Passage': Toward a Future of Dark Tourism Chronicles

Chapter 12. Elspeth Frew and Clare Lade: Survivor Voices and Disaster Education: Future Commemoration and Remembrance at Dark Tourism Sites 

Chapter 13. Abit Hoxha and Kenneth Andresen: Future of Dark Tourism in Kosovo: From Divisions to Digital Possibilities

Chapter 14. Ann-Kathrin McLean: Millennials, Transitional Memory and the Future of Holocaust Remembrance 

Chapter 15. Aija van der Steina, Maija Rozite, Inese Runce and Kaspars Strods: Between Revival of Memory and Dark Tourism: The Future of Holocaust-Related Sites in Latvia

Chapter 16. Marta Soligo: 'Mirrors of Society': Cemetery Tourism Futures 

Chapter 17. Janine Marriott: 'Not the Right Sort of Visitors': Future Challenges of Cemetery Tourism

Chapter 18. Allan Brodie: 'Into the horrors of the gloomy jail': Towards a Future of UK Prison Tourism and Penal Architecture 

Chapter 19. Brianna Wyatt: 'Finding a Light in Dark Places': Lighter Dark Tourism Futures

Chapter 20. Luisa Golz and Tony Johnston: Future of Dark Tourism Festivals: Technology and the Tourist Experience

Chapter 21. Robert S. Bristow, Alina Gross and Ian Jenkins: Future Dystopian Attractions: Benign Masochism in Dark Tourism

Chapter 22. Michael Brennan: Future Directions in Death Studies and Dark Tourism

Philip R. Stone: Afterword: Back to the Dark Tourism Future

References

Index

Editorial Reviews

This unique collection offers a fascinating glimpse into how the roles, meanings, productions and consequences of dark tourism might evolve in the near and more distant future. Framed within cultural, social, political, technological and environmental contexts, the chapters collectively present inevitably speculative but nevertheless challenging, sometimes discomforting and often convincing visions of the future of dark tourism. This book is an essential addition to the dark tourism library.

Richard Sharpley

From visions of a future where tourists will witness battles between humans and robots, to scenarios where the living and the dead will become interconnected in virtual environments, this volume cogently and explicitly pushes conceptualizations of dark tourism into previously unexplored realms and possible realities. Jam-packed with over twenty solid chapters, this book is an absolute must have for anyone interested in dark tourism.

Jeffrey S. Podoshen