Tourism across the places of technogenic catastrophes is gradually becoming popular on the global level.. Routes have been developed on the zones of alienation and dead cities. Equipment, including respirators and spare footwear, and food and drink are available for use by tourists. Typically, trips to the places of technogenic disasters are advertised in the following way : “Rest to a different taste”, “Be the first who will visit an alienation zone”, and “New tourism — new feelings”. For the last hundred years, in the world, 1,1 thousand industrial accidents have happened, in which 49 thousand people have lost their lives and 4,5 million suffered. Evidently, the thanatogenic objects created by the mankind have attracted a vast number of tourists. Places of interest include the areas destroyed or flooded with the elements. So, the work will suffice to satisfy stalkers and legal tourist agents alike.
Similarly to dark tourism, the tourism of disasters involves more curious population. The question arises why people are interested in accidents and disasters to such extent that they visit dangerous places. Probably, they want to receive reliable information from the primary sources, to see affected places with their own eyes without intermediaries. In this context, to stare is perceived as a natural reaction since people wish to explore unusual and dangerous incidents. This may be compared to how the movement of the transport slows down at a place where there has been an accident on the road. People are curious about the accident and wish to see what has happened, so they slow down their vehicles even if there is enough space to go round the stopped vehicles. In addition, people may often rejoice that it has occurred not to them. Consequently, many people are likely to become less susceptible, getting used to constant news about violence and tragedies televised.
Reasons for visiting deadly sites are numerous and diverse. Psychogically, people might believe that if some accident has happened at a definite place, it will not happen there anymore. Others simply like to be physically present on the scene , and still others prefer visiting places where there few tourists. People usually hope that neither earthquakes nor tornados will happen to them. Those engaged in tourism of disasters, most likely, would like to push luck: having learned about the forthcoming landslides or a tsunami, they will buy the cheapest tickets to the place of a prospective disaster at once. Less extreme travellers would like to visit an incident zone right after the disaster.
Tourism of disasters includes visiting places of tragic events, human-induced. What motivation stands up for such type of tourism? Below several examples are discussed. Some tourists go to the places destroyed by tsunamis because of their curiosity, frequently as volunteers from various organizations, including non-governmental bodies involved in providing emergency assistance to victims. Yet, these people can hardly be considered tourists since they work for official organizations and get prepared for rendering different types of help.In a year after the Asian tsunami, the hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. Within a month the bus tours were organized across the destroyed places of the city which were popular even two years later (Milo and Yoder 110). Obviously the companies have suffered losses when everything in the city was restored, as their tours have become less attractive to the public. Yet, what keeps the general public attracted to such tours?Some consider that they do good as people visiting the places of destruction, others believe they get experience for the future. Travel agents are sometimes afflicted that historical sights of a city are left aside since tourists appear to be more interested in the tragedy places.
It is obvious that whatever reasons of the tourism of disasters the inflow of tourists to the destroyed places brings economic bonuses to the cities and countries. When the reconstruction process begins, tourists and the mass media lose interest and material support to destroyed places development stops.
In tourism of disasters, many things depend on time. Certainly, everybody is interested in going to a place of the disaster immediately after the events, yet few people realize that such tours are burdensome in terms of lack of valuable resources in destroyed cities whose infrastructure, supply of electricity and water supply have been seriously damaged. Incidentally, tourists should understand that they endanger their lives by going to these places. Also, they delay rendering the first medical care to the suffering local populations by requiring help themselves.
There are also “people who visit the cities built up after the disasters much later, go to the memorable places, visit the museums, tell about an event and train the correct behavior in similar situations” (Chuck and Cain 14). These people may also be considered travellers engaged in tourism of disasters. It is inherent in humans — to show curiosity to sufferings and various tragic events, but it is better to remember that similar things may happen to each of us. It is advised to wait till the news about the disaster leave the first pages of newspapers and pay attention to wishes of the local population. This may explained by the fact that afflicted population may want to have a quiet experience of their grief and restoration of the destroyed area, which is their right
The excursions across the zone of Chernobyl NPP focus on tourists with different requirements, tastes and financial possibilities. There are paid and free excursions, one-day tours and those which allow spending a night in Chornobyl. The typical program includes a tour to the zone of the highest radiation near the sarcophagus of the fourth power unit of the nuclear power plant, visits to abandoned houses with traces of human life, including kindergartens and schools, as well as supervision over wild animals which roam about the abandoned city. Besides, tourists are given the chance to communicate with the people who occupied the vicinities arbitrarily. They train tourists how to use the Geyger’s counter competently and how to minimize the radiation influence (Chuck and Cain 14).
For extreme people, the Americans created a huge “fire chamber” called Centralia. It is the city in the United States constructed on huge stocks of anthracite. Why this coal was set to fire remains unknown, most likely by inadvertence. But for many years, the city has represented “a huge warmed-up frying pan”. After the locals started to fall in fiery holes in the ground, the population of Centralia got evacuated. But the city did not become empty: it is besieged by crowds of curious tourists, covered in ashes and smoke, which makes visitors to the city-disaster cough. Centralia is authorized for visiting officially. Americans call such tours “Oh, my God — road” since tourists more often remember God when they see the destroyed cities.
Another place, popular among the American tourists, is a dump of radioactive waste in the State of Washington. For some decades, it has become the biggest in the world . The population from neighboring settlements was evacuated because of the radiating pollution. “Officially it is forbidden to visit this place; however adventurous tourists overcome fear to be caught and punished and the fear of radiation, whose level is higher here than on the most part of the Chernobyl zone” .
For visiting one more monument to the industrial disasters — the Japanese island Hasim — tourists were punished with seven years of prison until recently (Chuck and Cain 36). This island was earlier used for the development of coalfields. Thanks to the coal industry, housing estates were constructed which were much more comfortable than in other parts of Japan. The inhabitants of the island boasted, “There is nothing on earth we do not have here”. However, after oil had changed coal, the city appeared doomed. Now it looks as if the population evaporated in one day. The authorities of Japan reconsidered their relation to industrial tourism and excursions, and decided to turn the abandoned island into a Mecca for tourists .
Another place to visit is the future city ghost on the northern coast of the island of Taiwan. It is the city of San Zhi. The paradise for rich people was under construction here. It was planned to be the future city and the dream city with unusual buildings, highways, and parks. oweverH However, during the construction people perished daily under very strange circumstances. As a result, the local population damned the future city. The construction was finished, but rich men did not want to buy housing in San Zhi. Consequently, this beautiful dream city has been empty for more than 20 years. Futuristic houses in the form of UFOs managed to attract only tourists-thrill-seekers.
In relation to the issue of disaster tourism a question arises as to what might happen to the afflicted countries and victims of natural or other disasters tsunami if tourists from developed countries started flying about them. Obviously, the suffering would deem it one more disaster. Instead, people should go to other places — those that have functioned with the purpose of satisfying tourists’ needs. After all, Maldives, for example, or Thailand, depend completely on tourism. If there are no tourists, there will be no workplaces and there will be no opportunity for people to return to a normal life. It seems that these countries will face a threat of becoming impoverished.
So, some people believe that it is possible and even necessary to visit the countries of disasters from the point of view of morality. The other question is how to behave there. For example, you cannot expect an ideal service and comfort in the regions affected by the disaster. Especially, you should not start a scandal because of any trifle. In a word, it will be immoral to show persistently that the tourist with his/her dollars or euro is the owner of life. Though many tourists stopped going on a holiday to such places not only because of moral questions but by simple human fear, one should remind pertinently that the accident occurred not because of the locals or even their governments. It was a natural disaster of an unprecedented scale. Systems of the early notification about danger in such regions would be helpful. Today the approach to visiting affected places should involve showing solidarity with people in the countries victims of the disaster. It is important that they get not only donations and financial aid, but also hope that after the accident life will go on.