Dark Tourism Yay Or Nay?

There’s A Rising Phenomenon In The World Of Travel. We Bring You Both Sides Of The Argument

- Shoba Mohan

How does it feel to be at Ground Zero a week after the disastrous attacks in Manhattan? I was there at the time, but did not think of it as ‘tourism’, let alone dark tourism. A friend was a volunteer, and had asked us to lend a hand to his church’s aid activities on site. A fearful smell—skin, hair, wood, paper, and whatever must have burnt out there, still hung thick, but the sense of sadness and bewilderment is what hit me in the gut. I just wanted to head back to India. The human energies, whether it is joy or suffering, linger in places long beyond human lifetimes.