Disaster tourism

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Disaster tourism at Mount Merapi, after the 2010 eruptions Disaster tourism merapi.jpg
Disaster tourism at Mount Merapi, after the 2010 eruptions

Disaster tourism is the practice of visiting locations at which an environmental disaster, either natural or human-made, has occurred. Although a variety of disasters are the subject of subsequent disaster tourism, the most common disaster tourist sites are areas surrounding volcanic eruptions.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Opinions on the morality and impact of disaster tourism are divided. Advocates of disaster tourism often claim that the practice raises awareness of the event, stimulates the local economy, and educates the public about the local culture, while critics claim that the practice is exploitative, profits on loss, and often mischaracterize the events in question.

Motivations

An article by Smartertravel defines the motivations present in individuals practicing disaster tourism. Attraction is typically derived from personal connection in a social, academic or cultural essence. [1] Another population of visitors hope to aid in providing relief to the affected areas—some directly through volunteer work and some indirectly through donations. [2]

Other visitors have no connection to the site or the event, but happen to be there as tourists and visit those places as part of their sightseeing. A common example of this is tourists who come to Italy to sightsee in Rome and end up visiting Pompeii and its neighboring cities without initially intending to do so. [1]

Reception

Disaster tourism has had a mixed reception. Critics label it as voyeuristic and profiting off of loss, while advocates argue that tourism stimulates the recovering economy and brings awareness to local culture. Although the public perception of tourism depends on a wide variety of factors, such as whether the disaster was human-made or natural and how long it has been since the incident, there are some general trends in the reception of tourism. [1] [3] [4]

Depending on the site or tour, disaster tourism can be seen to be an educational experience or exploitative. Whether or not a tourist site is handled respectfully and tactfully often is determined both by those organizing the events and the tourists themselves. Moreover, advocates of disaster tourism point out that attractions can educationally re-examine disasters despite the operators being motivated by profit. Many of these advocates argue that when distasteful disaster tourism occurs, the blame lies primarily on the tourists for providing an insensitive demand rather than on the operators for fulfilling such a demand. [4] [5] For both tourists and operators, however, parsing the difference between an educational and an exploitative one requires asking what areas are crucial for understanding the disaster and clarifying how behavior that is appropriate in a destroyed area is often different from the behavior that is appropriate in newly built homes or temporary camps. [2]

The effect of tourism on the local economy is often nuanced due to the specifics of how tourism affects local income. It is generally accepted that if the tours comprise public events organized by volunteers, then there are consistent but small increases to charity donations. However, if the tours are organized by private companies, then it is not always clear how what proportion of the profits go back into relief efforts. Furthermore, while governmental regulation typically prevents private tours from slowing down or reversing reconstruction in areas where reconstruction has already begun, critics argue that private touring may de-incentivize the reconstruction of locations and sites, in which reconstruction has yet to occur. [4] Another possible situation is that the tours are not organized by formal entities but instead by less cohesive groups of citizens. These cases are relatively unstudied due to their rarity. [6]

Similarly, visiting disaster sites is thought to affect empathy, but the nature of the effect it has depends on the particulars of the visit. Unorganized visits, for example, can often raise empathy by forcing the visitors to see suffering up close and prompting them to consider how to interact with victims. On the other hand, more organized visits have been accused of lowering empathy because they comprised tourists "acting like tourists and dressing like tourists," which dilutes and sanitizes the experience. [5]

In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, rescue efforts are often hampered by people who come to see and photograph the site, rather than take part in it. An example of this is that of Kavalappara, Kerala, where a landslide occurred in 2019, with emergency vehicles blocked in due to the vehicles of visitors. [7] [8] This led to widespread criticism, and authorities demanded that unnecessary visits to Kavalappara be avoided. [7]

Virtual reality

Facebook's virtual tour of Puerto Rico

In September 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Hurricane Maria is estimated to caused 3,059 deaths total, and in Puerto Rico, it is estimated to have caused $90 billion in property damage and displaced approximately 60,000 people. [9] [10] [11]

On October 9, 2017, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook social VR chief Rachel Franklin used a livestream to showcase Facebook’s new virtual reality app, Facebook Spaces, by taking a virtual tour of the devastated areas of Puerto Rico. During the 10 minute video, Zuckerberg explains how Facebook partnered with Red Cross to build population map from satellite imagery and better allocate the relief effort.

The public reception to the tour was unanimously negative. Zuckerberg drew criticism for describing VR as "magical" in its ability to transport people to disaster zones, and most viewers considered the cartoon avatars of Zuckerberg and Franklin to be an inappropriately jovial tone. The day following the livestream, Zuckerberg apologized, explaining, "When you're in VR yourself, the surroundings feel quite real. But that sense of empathy doesn't extend well to people watching you as a virtual character on a 2D screen." [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]

Examples

79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius

When the nearby volcano Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, the eruption buried the city of Pompeii and the nearby city of Herculaneum and preserved everything from its streets to its frescoes under mounds of pumice and ash. Although Pompeii was initially rediscovered in 1599, tourism was undesirable until Spanish engineer Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre performed a much larger excavation in 1748, which revealed many noteworthy structures, such as a fully intact Roman theatre.

Today, Pompeii belongs to the much larger Vesuvius National Park and is one of Italy’s most popular tourist sites, attracting approximately 2.5 million visitors annually. [17] [1]

Hindenburg incident (1937)

In the early evening of May 6, 1937, the German passenger airship Hindenburg burst into flames during a docking attempt at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, just outside Lakehurst, New Jersey. With the cause of the fire unknown and a death toll of thirty-seven passengers, the Hindenburg disaster became one of the biggest news stories of its time. [18]

Today, a bronze plaque and cement outline the site of the incident. Immediately east of the crash site, volunteers of the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society will conduct public tours of Historic Hangar One, the location where the Hindenburg was kept. [17]

1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion

On the morning of April 26, 1986, the number four reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, producing airborne radioactive materials and a fire that burned for ten days. The Chernobyl explosion caused dozens of direct deaths and thousands of deaths due to long-term exposure. In the aftermath, 350,000 residents were displaced from Chernobyl and the nearby city of Pripyat. The other three reactors at Chernobyl power plant continued running at the time but were gradually lessened until the power plant’s shutdown in 2000.

The Ukraine-based tour company SoloEast Travel currently runs daylong tours through Chernobyl’s exclusion zone, a 2600 square-kilometer area that includes the plant. The highlights of the tour include visiting the Red Forest, a pine tree woodland destroyed by radioactive contamination, exploring Kopachi, a nearby village that was demolished due to high contamination levels, and finally coming within 305 meters of the remains of the number four reactor. [17] These tours are met with some controversy because although SoloEast Travel claims that publicly accessible areas surrounding the power plant contain low levels of radiation and are deemed safe, a number of third-party scientists disagree. [ citation needed ]

1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker struck Alaska's Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound and leaked crude oil into the sound. An estimated 10.8 to 31.7 million US gal (40,900 to 120,000 m3) spilled. Oil from the spill would eventually contaminate more than 11,000 square miles (28,000 km2) of ocean and 1,300 miles (2,100 km) of coastline. The spill killed hundreds of sea otters, harbor seals, and eagles and hundreds of thousands of seabirds in the days following the spill. Despite that it is not the world's largest oil spill, the Exxon Valdez oil spill is typically considered the most notorious in American history.

Having been among the first responders, the family-run Stan Stephens Cruises operates glacier tours out of Prince William Sound that highlight the history surrounding the Exxon Valdez spill and its aftermath. [17]

Hurricane Katrina (2005)

In late August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the American city of New Orleans. Although 80–90% of the population was evacuated prior, twenty-three breaches in navigational canal levees, drainage canal levees, and floodwalls occurred as a result of Katrina’s storm surge. With these failures, 80% of New Orleans became flooded, which in turn caused over 200,000 homes to be destroyed and 800,000 residents to be displaced. At the time, the disaster had a large impact on the politics, population, and economics for a sizable portion of the United States.

A decade after the incident, the effects of Hurricane Katrina are still visible and catastrophic. Although many companies offer bus tours of the still-damaged regions, critics argues that these tours interfere with the relief effort. Some have suggested that curious tourists should instead go on bike tours in order to restrict the disruption to residents trying to get their lives back on track. Quite frequently, tours will focus on showcasing the culture of specific districts and neighborhood, treating Hurricane Katrina as the most recent event in a much longer cultural history. Many tours donate their profits or a portion of their profits to local relief organizations. [17] [19]

2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull

Eyjafjallajökull, in Iceland, began erupting on 20 March 2010. [20] [21] At this time, about 500 farmers and their families from the areas of Fljótshlíð, Eyjafjöll, and Landeyjar were evacuated overnight, but allowed to return to their farms and homes after Civil Protection Department risk assessment. On 14 April 2010, Eyjafjallajökull erupted for the second time, requiring 800 people to be evacuated. [22]

In the wake of the first eruption, tour companies offered trips to see the volcano. [23] However, the ash cloud from the second eruption disrupted air traffic over Great Britain and most of northern and western Europe, making it difficult to travel to Iceland even though Iceland's airspace itself remained open throughout. [22] [24] [25]

2010 eruption of Mount Merapi

In the November of 2010, the active Indonesian volcano of Mount Merapi had its second eruption in a century, which led to direct deaths of 353 people and the displacement of approximately 400,000 people in nearby villages.

Mount Merapi is unique among disaster tourist sites because Merapi was a popular tourist site prior to the volcano’s eruption, and tourism had already made up a significant portion of the local economy. While many tour companies and travel agencies hold more standard sightseeing tours with jeeps of the affected areas, some programs provide more direct paths to donating to local charities and getting involved in the relief effort. For example, the Go Green Campaign encourages tourists to purchase small trees or seeds and plant them in local villages. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

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A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. The process that forms volcanoes is called volcanism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Vesuvius</span> Active stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy

Mount Vesuvius is a somma–stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about 9 km (5.6 mi) east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes forming the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuvius consists of a large cone partially encircled by the steep rim of a summit caldera, resulting from the collapse of an earlier, much higher structure.

Tourism in Puerto Rico attracts millions of visitors each year, with more than 5.1 million passengers arriving at the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in 2022, a 6.5% increase from 2021, the main point of arrival into the island of Puerto Rico. With a $8.9 billion revenue in 2022, tourism has been a very important source of revenue for Puerto Rico for a number of decades given its favorable warm climate, beach destinations and its diversity of natural wonders, cultural and historical sites, festivals, concerts and sporting events. As Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States, U.S. citizens do not need a passport to enter Puerto Rico, and the ease of travel attracts many tourists from the mainland U.S. each year.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mayon</span> Stratovolcano in the Philippines

Mayon, also known as Mount Mayon and Mayon Volcano, is an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay in Bicol, Philippines. A popular tourist spot, it is renowned for its "perfect cone" because of its symmetric conical shape, and is regarded as sacred in Philippine mythology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volcanism of Iceland</span>

Iceland experiences frequent volcanic activity, due to its location both on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary, and being over a hotspot. Nearly thirty volcanoes are known to have erupted in the Holocene epoch; these include Eldgjá, source of the largest lava eruption in human history. Some of the various eruptions of lava, gas and ash have been both destructive of property and deadly to life over the years, as well as disruptive to local and European air travel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eyjafjallajökull</span> Glacier and volcano in Iceland

Eyjafjallajökull, sometimes referred to by the numeronym E15, is one of the smaller ice caps of Iceland, north of Skógar and west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano with a summit elevation of 1,651 metres (5,417 ft). The volcano has erupted relatively frequently since the Last Glacial Period, most recently in 2010, when, although relatively small for a volcanic eruption, it caused enormous disruption to air travel across northern and western Europe for a week.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highlands of Iceland</span>

The Highland or The Central Highland is an area that comprises much of the interior land of Iceland. The Highland is situated above 300–400 meters and is mostly uninhabitable. The soil is primarily volcanic ash, and the terrain consists of basalt mountains and lava fields. Snow covers the Highland from October until the beginning of June. A few oasis-like areas, such as Herðubreiðarlindir and Þórsmörk, are also found in the Highland. The area has many notable natural features and hiking trails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grímsvötn</span> Volcano in Iceland

Grímsvötn is an active volcano with a fissure system located in Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland. The volcano itself is completely subglacial and located under the northwestern side of the Vatnajökull ice cap. The subglacial caldera is at 64°25′N17°20′W, at an elevation of 1,725 m (5,659 ft). Beneath the caldera is the magma chamber of the Grímsvötn volcano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacaya</span> Mountain and national park in Guatemala

Pacaya is an active complex volcano in Guatemala, which first erupted approximately 23,000 years ago and has erupted at least 23 times since the Spanish conquest of Guatemala. It rises to an elevation of 2,552 metres (8,373 ft). After being dormant for over 70 years, it began erupting vigorously in 1961 and has been erupting frequently since then. Much of its activity is Strombolian, but occasionally Plinian eruptions also occur, sometimes showering the area of the nearby Departments with ash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Pierre, Martinique</span> Subprefecture and commune in Martinique, France

Saint-Pierre is a town and commune of France's Caribbean overseas department of Martinique, founded in 1635 by Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc. Before the total destruction of Saint-Pierre by a volcanic eruption in 1902, it was the most important city of Martinique culturally and economically, being known as "the Paris of the Caribbean". While Fort-de-France was the official administrative capital, Saint-Pierre was the cultural capital of Martinique. After the disaster, Fort-de-France grew in economic importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armero tragedy</span> November 1985 volcanic eruption in Colombia

The Armero tragedy occurred following the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz stratovolcano in Tolima, Colombia, on November 13, 1985. The volcano's eruption after 69 years of dormancy caught nearby towns unprepared, even though volcanological organizations had warned the government to evacuate the area after they detected volcanic activity two months earlier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Sinabung</span> Active volcano in North Sumatra, Indonesia

Mount Sinabung is a Pleistocene-to-Holocene stratovolcano of andesite and dacite in the Karo plateau of Karo Regency, North Sumatra, Indonesia, 40 kilometres (25 mi) from the Lake Toba supervolcano. Many old lava flows are on its flanks and the last known eruption, before recent times, occurred 1200 years before present, between 740 - 880 CE. Solfataric activities were last observed at the summit in 1912; recent documented events include an eruption in the early hours of 29 August 2010 and eruptions in September and November 2013, January, February and October 2014. The volcano has recently claimed the life of at least 23 people in a number of events since 2014. Between 2013 and 2014, the alert for a major event was increased with no significant activity. On 2 June 2015, the alert was again increased, and on 26 June 2015, at least 10,000 people were evacuated, fearing a major eruption. The long eruption of Mount Sinabung is similar to that of Mount Unzen in Japan, which erupted for five years after lying dormant for 400 years. A major eruption began on 10 August 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Types of volcanic eruptions</span>

Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which material is expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior has been observed. Some volcanoes may exhibit only one characteristic type of eruption during a period of activity, while others may display an entire sequence of types all in one eruptive series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slum tourism</span> Visiting impoverished areas

Slum tourism, poverty tourism, ghetto tourism or trauma tourism is a type of tourism that involves visiting impoverished areas, or in some cases, areas that were affected by disasters, such as nuclear fallout zones like Chernobyl or Fukushima. Originally focused on the slums and ghettos of London and Manhattan in the 19th century, slum tourism is now prominent in South Africa, India, Brazil, Kenya, and the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull</span> Volcanic events in Iceland

Between March and June 2010 a series of volcanic events at Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland caused enormous disruption to air travel across Western Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 eruptions of Mount Merapi</span> Volcanic eruption of Mount Merapi in Indonesia

In late October 2010, Mount Merapi in border of Central Java and Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia began an increasingly violent series of eruptions that continued into November. Seismic activity around the volcano increased from mid-September onwards, culminating in repeated outbursts of lava and volcanic ash. Large eruption columns formed, causing numerous pyroclastic flows down the heavily populated slopes of the volcano. The 2010 eruption of Merapi was the volcano's largest since 1872.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Whakaari / White Island eruption</span> Volcanic eruption which killed 22 and injured 25 people

On 9 December 2019, Whakaari / White Island, an active stratovolcano island in New Zealand's northeastern Bay of Plenty region, explosively erupted. The island was a popular tourist destination, known for its volcanic activity, and 47 people were on the island at the time. Twenty-two people died, either in the explosion or from injuries sustained, including two whose bodies were never found and were later declared dead. A further 25 people suffered injuries, with the majority needing intensive care for severe burns. Continuing seismic and volcanic activity, together with heavy rainfall, low visibility and the presence of toxic gases, hampered recovery efforts over the week following the incident.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Disaster Tourism: Why Tragedy Draws Tourists - SmarterTravel". SmarterTravel. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Disaster Tourism | USAID CIDI is an education organization that is focused on effective public donations in support of disaster relief". www.cidi.org. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  3. ↑ "Understanding disaster tourism: Is it ever okay?". Geckos Tales. 19 June 2015. Archived from the original on 18 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 "Why Indulging in Disaster Tourism Could Be a Tragic Mistake". Women on the Road. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  5. 1 2 Hamm, Catharine M. (22 February 2012). "The ethics of disaster tourism: What is the right thing to do? [Updated]". Los Angeles Times. ISSN   0458-3035 . Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  6. 1 2 (www.dw.com), Deutsche Welle. "Disaster tourism in Indonesia | DW | 04.04.2011". DW.COM. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  7. 1 2 "കവളപ്പാറയിലേക്ക് 'ദുരന്ത ടൂറിസ്റ്റുകൾ', ദുരിതാശ്വാസ വാഹനങ്ങൾ ഗതാഗതക്കുരുക്കിൽ; പിന്തിരിയണമെന്നഭ്യർത്ഥിച്ച് അധികൃതർ". www.azhimukham.com (in Malayalam). 18 January 2021. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021.
  8. ↑ "Kerala Floods: Disaster Tourism to landslide-hit Kavalappara makes issues- Viral video from an Excise Officer | കവളപ്പാറയിലേക്ക് 'ദുരന്ത ടൂറിസം'... ദയവായി ഇങ്ങനെ ചെയ്യരുത്; വൈറൽ ആയി എക്‌സൈസ് ഉദ്യോഗസ്ഥന്റെ വീഡിയോ - Malayalam Oneindia". malayalam.oneindia.com (in Malayalam). 18 January 2021. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021.
  9. ↑ Hernández, Arelis R.; McGinley, Laurie (29 May 2018). "Harvard study estimates thousands died in Puerto Rico because of Hurricane Maria". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  10. ↑ "Quick Facts: Hurricane Maria's Effect on Puerto Rico". ReliefWeb. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  11. ↑ "NHC Tropical Cyclone Report on Hurricane Maria" (PDF). Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  12. ↑ "Mark Zuckerberg has been accused of "exploiting disaster" for taking part in a Puerto Rico virtual reality stunt". Newsweek. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  13. ↑ "Zuckerberg apologizes for his tone-deaf VR cartoon tour of Puerto Rico devastation – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  14. ↑ "A cartoon Mark Zuckerberg toured hurricane-struck Puerto Rico in virtual reality". The Verge. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  15. ↑ Solon, Olivia (10 October 2017). "Mark Zuckerberg 'tours' flooded Puerto Rico in bizarre virtual reality promo". the Guardian. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  16. ↑ McGoogan, Cara (10 October 2017). "Mark Zuckerberg apologises for 'tasteless' Puerto Rico VR video". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 "8 Disaster Tourism Sites". Popular Mechanics. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  18. ↑ "The Hindenburg Disaster | Airships.net". Airships.net. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  19. ↑ "10 years after Katrina, New Orleans' tourism industry booming". NOLA.com. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  20. ↑ "Eldgosið á Fimmvörðuhálsi".
  21. ↑ Volcano Erupts Under Eyjafjallajökull Archived 2014-01-11 at the Wayback Machine , Reykjavík Grapevine , March 21, 2010
  22. 1 2 "Iceland's volcanic ash halts flights in northern Europe". BBC News . 15 April 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2010.[ dead link ]
  23. ↑ Tom Robbins. The Guardian . Iceland's erupting volcano. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  24. ↑ "Cancellations due to volcanic ash in the air". Norwegian Air Shuttle. 15 April 2010. Archived from the original on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  25. ↑ "Iceland Volcano Spewing Ash Chokes Europe Air Travel". San Francisco Chronicle . 15 April 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
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