in today's video we're going to be talking about a somewhat controversial type of tourism it's called disaster tourism so if you are interested in learning more stay tuned disaster tourism is the act of visiting locations that have been subjected to man-made or natural environmental disasters is considered a sub-sector of dark tourism disaster tourism destinations can be permanently popular with the tourists such as chernobyl or they can be popular only in the aftermath of the disaster such as kathmandu after the 2015 earthquake on new orleans after the 2005 hurricane and research has shown that there are lots of different reasons why people want to be disaster tourists let's delve a bit deeper some people choose to partake in disaster tourism activities because they have an interest in learning about the world others want to expand their social awareness or connect with people who have had traumatic experiences some people are in search of authenticity and this is their primary motivation for becoming a disaster tourist they want to experience the disaster firsthand without intermediaries such as the media who may not portray the event or the situation accurately or fully there are many ways that tourists can experience disaster tourism in an authentic way such as this such as visiting the wall in berlin or going on a chernobyl tour other people simply want to be near danger some tourists seek to partake in dangerous experiences or visit dangerous areas also known as extreme tourism this can also be a motivation for visiting a disaster area in fact there are specific tour operators who will organize for tourists to undertake such trips and the tourism industry can actually benefit from disasters which sounds terrible doesn't it but let's let's look a bit more into this post disasters leaves the door open for the tourism industry museums may open up to educate tourists about the disaster there could be organized tours about the disaster there could also be entertainment based around the disaster this may sound strange but think titanic outfits or chernobyl increased tourism in the area can help bring in much needed income disaster tourism can increase visitor arrivals and support local economies financially through an increase in hotel bookings restaurants etc disaster tourism can help rebuild and reform broken communities and provide a means of support for facilitating infrastructure development especially when a community notices a decline in other forms of tourism i.e leisure tourism the money raised through tourism can also be used to help rejuvenate or repair the host community an increase in tourism of this nature can also help to boost income to the tour operators airlines and other stakeholders of the tourism industry but there are also problems with disaster tourism there seems to be an inherent conflict between the terms disaster and tourism tourism is typically associated with leisure with inevitable connotations of happiness fun and enjoyment this is in direct contradiction to a disaster where sadness stress and struggle are likely at the heart in fact many would argue that tourists should not visit disaster sites at all particularly if this is during the immediate aftermath problems can include poor tourist behavior or a lack of respect towards the local community and its people tourists may also be a hindrance instead of a help they may get in the way of life-saving efforts or put themselves in unnecessary danger tourists may also use up resources which should be prioritized for those in need such as food and water so is disaster tourism ethical well this really is the million-dollar question here is it really ethical to visit sites of sorrow or to photograph people who are in moments of grief many communities welcome disaster tourists as they raise awareness about the issue in turn helping to attract further aid others however may argue that disaster tourists are more trouble than they are worth following the new orleans hurricane katrina for example local residents criticized tour operators for making financial gains from their disastrous misery so let's take a look at some examples of things that tourists have done in the past that are not ethical photographing people in moments of sorrow smiling and laughing around those experiencing hardship treating people as if they are museum exhibits making inappropriate remarks wearing disrespectful clothes using inappropriate language committing to disaster tourism for personal gain eg personal satisfaction or to enhance their cv making money from others hardships talking loudly about unrelated issues and showing general signs of disrespect so now that you understand what disaster tourism is let's look at some examples of disaster tourism from around the world new orleans hurricane katrina was one of the deadliest hurricanes ever to hit the united states killing over 1 800 people and leaving many homeless the hurricane cost 108 billion us dollars in damage being one of the most deadliest hurricanes ever in the us disaster tourists flocked to the states to observe the damage of hurricane katrina however local residents were not appreciative of tourism post-disaster local residents were particularly aggravated by disaster tourists vanessa gehringer expressed in a report by the telegraph that we're fed up and we're tired of them coming through the neighborhood like we're some sideshow after all the suffering we've been through we deserve more respect than this this is a good example of how disaster tourism can be unwelcome and unethical kathmandu nepal experienced one of its deadliest earthquakes yet with almost 9 000 deaths 22 000 injured and several million people without homes in 2015. nepal's tourist industry slummed overnight whilst their food resources and infrastructure was seriously scared when the border between india and nepal was closed tourism numbers in nepal fell dramatically from 790 000 visitors in 2014 to 539 000 visitors in 2016. although the earthquake destroyed much of nepal's unique cultural heritage many worried that this would deter future visitors however nepal's tourism industry has climbed back up the ladder some believe the destruction of nepal's cultural heritage provides a much more fascinating story and attracts even more visitors than before these tourists will not necessarily visit the pool for the purpose of being a disaster tourist but will partake in disaster tourism as part of the wider tourism experience bikini atoll bikini atoll was once a nuclear test site and nuclear devices were detonated between 1946 and 1958 unlike natural disasters tourists could not flock to bikini atoll immediately after and even to this day bikini atoll remains an extremely hazardous place to visit despite the u.s granting its safety in 1997 it's argued that disaster tourists are putting themselves at risk by traveling to bikini atoll there is still a significant level of radiation in the area and the extent of the damage caused below sea level has not been determined whilst the disaster tourism industry at bikini atoll is not huge there is a growing popularity for tours in the area many scuba divers will visit the atoll to explore the fleet of 10 sunken ships which were sunken during the nuclear tests iceland the volcanic eruption in iceland has been considered one of the integral catalysts that transformed iceland's position as a travel destination pulling the country from its financial slump into prosperity despite the volcano's ash cloud creating immense disruption to worldwide air travel travelers deemed the ash cloud as beautiful and picturesque this saw the rise of volcano tourism in the area whereby tourists flossed to visit a volcano with its pending eruption following the eruption of this volcano in 2010 iceland witnessed the beginning of its largest volcano erupting two which ended in february 2015. the volcanic eruption attracted many disaster tourists who have particular interests in volcanic tourism or photography thailand the 2004 tsunami killed more than 230 thousand people and left 1.7 million people homeless being the deadliest tsunami to date 14 countries were affected including india indonesia malaysia the maldives myanmar somalia sri lanka thailand bangladesh south africa madagascar kenya tanzania and the seychelles thailand was one of the most affected countries with over 4 800 deaths 8 400 injured and 4 500 missing nowadays people visit the tsunami evacuation points on ko pb in thailand so as you can see whilst it might sound a bit strange disaster tourism is a bit of a contradiction of terms there actually it's a pretty big part of the tourism industry and it's it's a pretty interesting part as well as always it needs to be carefully managed but it has some potential to really do good if that good management is there if you've enjoyed this video i have more take a look and subscribe to my channel [Music]