What is Dark Tourism?

Dark tourism (aka thanotourism, black tourism, morbid tourism or grief tourism) is, in a nut shell, travel to places associated with death, tragedy or of a general dark nature, most typically through religion, history, familial association or non-fiction literature. A good example that combines those criteria is travel to Transylvania. This would fall within the literature bucket through Bram Stokers’ Dracula and historically via the tales and legend of Vlad Tepes. (Vlad the Impaler). If someone were a descendant of Tepes then they would have a genealogical association and if they were looking into the Christian and Muslim aspects of that history one might even conclude there was a religious side to the tourism.

Recently, the dark tourism concept has been expanded to denote the reasons tourists visit a specific site, since the site's attributes alone may not make a visitor a dark tourist. For example, Auschwitz fits the basic definition of a dark tourist site, but the "casual" visitor might not fall within the definition of Dark Tourist. However, descendants of victims visiting under the genealogical umbrella or to commune with ancestors that have passed on would be more in line with the pure definition.

Finally, travel associated with “death” or “dark” holidays or Pagan celebrations such as Samhain(Hallowe’en), Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) or Mabon (Autumnal Equinox) also fall within the bailiwick of Dark Tourism, as your average traveler might not consider wrapping an entire travel experience around these events.

The Dark Tourist needs a thoughtful & compassionate travel advisor. Someone who is familiar with and (more importantly) comfortable with advising, guiding, and arranging a journey that encompasses what is often a most uncommon travel event.  

In many cases, these trips are not just a “vacation” but a once in a lifetime pilgrimage. 

We at Terminus World Travel are ready, nay eager to make your travel arrangements with thoughtful design and individual attention to each detail. These are not “pre-packaged” itineraries, but rather tailored to each client’s aesthetic.

What you will not get from us is confusion, judgement or even a batted eye. 

After all, we are dark tourists ourselves. 

• We take each travelers’ wants and needs and curate individualized -in many cases life changing - experiences.