War tourism is recreational travel to active or former war zones for purposes of sightseeing or historical study. The term may be used pejoratively to describe thrill-seeking in dangerous and forbidden places. In 1988, P. J. O'Rourke applied the pejorative meaning to war correspondents. [1]
War artists and correspondents such as Willem van de Velde are considered to be the first war tourists. Van de Velde took to sea in 1653 in a small boat to observe a naval battle between the Dutch and the English, making many sketches on the spot. [2]
During the Crimean War, tourists led by Mark Twain visited the wrecked city of Sevastopol – he even scolded his travel mates for walking off with souvenir shrapnel. Prince Menshikov invited the ladies of Sevastopol to watch the battle of Alma from a nearby hill. Fanny Duberly traveled with her husband to the Crimea in 1854 and stayed with him throughout his time there, despite the protests of commanders such as Lord Lucan. As the only woman at the front-lines, she was the center of much attention. She was told of planned attacks ahead of time, giving her the opportunity to be in a good position to witness them.[ citation needed ]
The First Battle of Bull Run, also known as the First Battle of Manassas, was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, near the city of Manassas. It was the first major land battle of the American Civil War. Expecting an easy Union victory, the wealthy elite of nearby Washington, including congressmen and their families, had come to picnic and watch the battle. When the Union army was driven back, the roads back to Washington were blocked by panicked civilians attempting to flee in their carriages. Frank Leslie made an engraving of this called The Soldier in Our Civil War. [3] The Battle of Gettysburg was also spectated by a number of tourists, [4] including Arthur Lyon Fremantle.
Thomas Cook began promoting tours to the battlefields of the Second Boer War before the conflict had ended. A variety of other travel agents advertised the easily accessible and picturesque battlefields of Tugela and Ladysmith. Groups of tourists also closely followed the Franco-Prussian War visiting the battlefields shortly after the fighting was over. The above were criticized by Alfred Milner, The Observer and Punch . [5]
One of the first travel agents, Henry Gaze, created a tour which included the battlefield of Waterloo in 1854. Waterloo was also a destination of an 1886 Polytechnic Touring Association tour, during which schoolboys and teachers visited the site for educational purposes. According to the 1913 Thomas Cook travel guide, the rising popularity of Waterloo as a tourist attraction led to the appearance of numerous charlatans claiming to have participated in the battle. The guide also highlighted the booming trade of relics and souvenirs related to the engagement. [6]
Despite the criticism war tourism continued to develop following the pace of the tourism industry in general. At the beginning of World War I it became evident that following the end of the war, the related battlefields would attract considerable attention from potential tourists. Although instances of war tourism during the Great War have been documented, they remained limited due to opposition by the French authorities. [7]
Following the end of the war, previous instances of trophy hunting were replaced by pilgrimage style visits. British intelligence officer Hugh Pollard described the Ypres Salient as a holy ground due to the large number of Entente graves in the region. Numerous veterans echoed those thoughts. Anglican and Catholic religious tourism became increasingly linked with war tourism during the interwar period. In September 1934, 100,000 Catholic former servicemen from both sides of the conflict visited Lourdes in order to pray for peace. A large number of Anglican tourists also undertook tours to the battlefields of the Palestinian campaign. Greece, Turkey and Italy also became popular war tourism destinations. [8] [9]
A large number of battlefield guides were produced by a variety of travel agencies further fueling the rise of war tours. A 1936 study brought to light the fact that the majority of war tourists during the period were driven by curiosity or were paying homage to their deceased relatives. [10] Today, WWI battlefield tourism attracts tens of thousands of tourists to former war zones on the Western Front and in the Dardanelles for example. [11]
Following the end of World War II former battlefields created new war tourist destinations. Saipan, as well as other battlefields of the Pacific, became a place of pilgrimage for Japanese veterans who reburied and erected monuments to their fallen comrades. [12]
Foley and Lennon explored the idea that people are attracted to regions and sites where "inhuman acts" have occurred. They claim that motivation is driven by media coverage and a desire to see for themselves, and that there is a symbiotic relationship between the attraction and the visitor, whether it be a death camp or site of a celebrity's death. [13]
Former security professional Rick Sweeney formed War Zone Tours in 2008, while another of the companies operating in this market was begun by a former TheNew York Times journalist Nicholas Wood. [14] Sweeney is part of a group of tour guides who take tourists to countries that have experienced or are mired in conflict. A tourist on a trip to Baghdad in 2010 might have paid up to $40,000. In 2014, war tourism was reportedly on the increase [15] and included tourists in Israel to spectate on the Syrian Civil War. The desire for the experience and the documentation and photographing of it through social networking could be helping to increase war tourism, according to a Tel Aviv-based journalist. [16] War tourism in Israel is also covered in the 2011 documentary film War Matador by Avner Faingulernt and Macabit Abramson. [17] The Syrian civil war is attracting adventure-seekers. [18] According to retired Israel Defense Forces colonel Kobi Marom, who leads tours of the war zone across the Israeli border, tourists are interested in seeing the conflict and go "crazy" when they learn that they are probably being observed by Al-Qaeda militants. [19]
In Iran, students, members of Basij militia and interested people are routinely taken to the former battle sites of the Iran–Iraq War as the war is considered by the Iranian ruling regime a "holy defense" and an ideological pillar to the existence of the ruling Islamic Republic. The trips are organized by Basij, an offshoot of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) which enlists the travelers normally in mosques, schools or universities. The trips, which are officially called "Tours for the Travelers of Light" (Persian: اردوهای راهیان نور), are low-cost and are taken by bus under poor safety conditions. Since 2008, accidents involving the buses taking the "tourists" have killed at least 70 people. [20] [21] [22] In 2013, the then Education Minister Hajibabayi proposed that those killed in these tours be granted the degree of martyr.[ citation needed ]
In 2022, Canadian politician Dominic Cardy vacationed in Ukraine. [23] He visited sites that had experienced Russian bombing and damage and shared multiple images and videos to his personal X (Twitter) account. [24]
In 2021, British internet personality 'Lord' Miles Routledge visited Afghanistan during the Fall of Kabul, and has since returned multiple times. He was captured and detained by the Taliban for several months. He shared photos, Livestreams, videos, and stories from Afghanistan online as well as later recounting his experience in interviews and a book.
The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai, is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Africa. Sinai has a land area of about 60,000 km2 (23,000 sq mi) and a population of approximately 600,000 people. Administratively, the vast majority of the area of the Sinai Peninsula is divided into two governorates: the South Sinai Governorate and the North Sinai Governorate. Three other governorates span the Suez Canal, crossing into African Egypt: Suez Governorate on the southern end of the Suez Canal, Ismailia Governorate in the center, and Port Said Governorate in the north.
Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity only", as people "travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure and not less than 24 hours, business and other purposes". Tourism can be domestic or international, and international tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a country's balance of payments.
Taba is an Egyptian town near the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba. Taba is the location of Egypt's busiest border crossing with neighboring Eilat, Israel. It is the northernmost resort of Egypt's Red Sea Riviera.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also called Sepah or Pasdaran, is a multi-service primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khomeini as a military branch in May 1979, in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution. Whereas the Iranian Army protects the country's sovereignty in a traditional capacity, the IRGC's constitutional mandate is to ensure the integrity of the Islamic Republic. Most interpretations of this mandate assert that it entrusts the IRGC with preventing foreign interference in Iran, thwarting coups by the traditional military, and crushing "deviant movements" that harm the ideological legacy of the Islamic Revolution. Currently, the IRGC is designated as a terrorist organization by Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and the United States.
The Basij or Niru-ye Moghāvemat-e Basij, full name Sâzmân-e Basij-e Mostaz'afin, is a paramilitary volunteer militia within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and one of its five branches. The force is named Basij; an individual member is called basiji in the Persian language. As of July 2019, Gholamreza Soleimani is the commander of the Basij.
Dark tourism has been defined as tourism involving travel to places historically associated with death and tragedy. More recently, it was suggested that the concept should also include reasons tourists visit that site, since the site's attributes alone may not make a visitor a "dark tourist". The main attraction to dark locations is their historical value rather than their associations with death and suffering. Holocaust tourism contains aspects of both dark tourism and heritage tourism.
Tourism in Israel is one of the country's major sources of income, with a record 4.55 million tourist arrivals in 2019. Tourism contributed NIS 20 billion to the Israeli economy in 2017, making it an all-time record. Israel offers a plethora of historical and religious sites, beach resorts, natural sites, archaeological tourism, heritage tourism, adventure tourism, and ecotourism. For practical reasons, this article also covers tourism in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the occupied Golan Heights, since it is closely interconnected with the mass tourism in Israel. Over the millennia the Holy Land has been amongst the most visited lands in the world.
Iran–Turkey relations are the bilateral relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Turkey. The two states' relationship is complex and characterized by periods of both tension and cooperation, as both Iran and Turkey are fighting for influence in the Middle East through supporting opposing proxies as part of a proxy conflict. The two countries are also major trade partners and are perceived as mutually interdependent due to geographical proximity as well as historically shared cultural, linguistic, and ethnic traits.
Tourism in Morocco is well developed, maintaining a strong tourist industry focused on the country's coast, culture, and history. The Moroccan government created a Ministry of Tourism in 1985. Tourism is considered one of the main foreign exchange sources in Morocco and since 2013 it had the highest number of arrivals out of the countries in Africa. In 2018, 12.3 million tourists were reported to have visited Morocco.
Tourism in Iran provides a range of activities from hiking and skiing in the Alborz and Zagros mountains, to beach holidays by the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea. The Iranian government has made efforts to attract tourists to various destinations in the country.
Tourism in the Palestinian territories is tourism in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. In 2010, 4.6 million people visited the Palestinian territories, compared to 2.6 million in 2009. Of that number, 2.2 million were foreign tourists while 2.7 million were domestic. In the last quarter of 2012 over 150,000 guests stayed in West Bank hotels; 40% were European and 9% were from the United States and Canada. Major travel guides write that "the West Bank is not the easiest place in which to travel but the effort is richly rewarded."
Most visitors to Iran must obtain an electronic visa (e-Visa) prior to their arrival in Iran, unless they are a citizen of one of the visa-exempt countries or countries that are ineligible for an e-Visa, in which case they must obtain a visa in advance from one of the Iranian diplomatic missions around the world.
Tourism in the Arab World encompasses a wide array of activities and tourist attractions in an area spanning more than 13 million square kilometers. The Arab World mainly consists of the Arabic-speaking countries and populations in North Africa and Western Asia. The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 countries and territories of the Arab League: 10 countries in Africa, and 12 countries in Asia. Geographically, it stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the southeast. It has a combined population of around 422 million people.
Visitors to Syria must obtain a visa from one of the Syrian diplomatic missions in advance, unless they are a national of a visa-exempt country or a country whose citizens are eligible to obtain visas on arrival.
Holocaust tourism is tourism to destinations connected with the extermination of Jews during the Holocaust in World War II, including visits to sites of Jewish martyrology such as former Nazi death camps and concentration camps turned into state museums. It belongs to a category of the so-called 'roots tourism' usually across parts of Central Europe, or, more generally, the Western-style dark tourism to sites of death and disaster.
Tourism in Iraq refers to tourism in the Western Asian country Iraq. Iraq was one of the main destinations for many years, however it changed dramatically due to conflicts. The tourism in Iraq has faced many challenges, however, in recent years there has been improvements. The capital city Baghdad is the second largest city in the Arab world and the 4th largest in the Middle East. Iraq has several World Heritage Sites, dating back to ancient Mesopotamia, most notably Babylon Iraq. Iraq is considered to be a potential location for ecotourism. Erbil was chosen as "Arab Tourism Capital" in 2014 by the Arab Tourism Committee.
Although Syria has some of the oldest cities in Western Asia, such as Damascus and Aleppo, tourism in Syria has greatly reduced as a result of the Syrian War, that began in 2011 and is ongoing, and its associated refugee crisis. Tourism has been further impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19 starting in March 2020. The international economic sanctions imposed on Syria and the sharp drop in the value of the Syrian pound also adversely impact tourism in Syria. The Ministry of Tourism is the responsible government department.
Hassan Shateri, also known as Hesam Khoshnevis, was an Iranian military officer and Major General of Iran's elite IRGC Quds Force. He was a veteran of the Iran–Iraq war and head of the Iranian Committee for the Reconstruction of Lebanon after the 2006 Lebanon War, according to Iranian media. He was assassinated in February 2013.
The Followers of Zainab Brigade, also known as the Zainebiyoun Brigade or Zainebiyoun Division, is a Pakistani Shia Khomeinist militant group actively engaged in the Syrian Civil War. It draws recruits mainly from Shia Pakistanis living in Iran, with some also Shia Muslim communities living in various regions of Pakistan.
Rahian-e Noor is the group of religious and political caravans which travel between visiting zones in south and southwestern in Iran to commemorate Iranian efforts and lives lost in the Iran–Iraq War. The caravans of Rahian-e Noor typically travel to war zones around the time of Nowruz - the Iranian New Year - and during summer vacation.
