The Darker Side of Travel: The Theory and Practice of Dark Tourism: Aspects of Tourism

Richard Sharpley is Professor of Tourism and Development at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK. He has previously held positions at a number of other institutions, including the University of Northumbria (Reader in Tourism) and the University of Lincoln, where he was Professor of Tourism and Head of Department, Tourism and Recreation Management. His principal research interests are within the fields of tourism and development, island tourism, rural tourism and the sociology of tourism, and his books include Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues (2002), Tourism and Development in the Developing World (2008) and Tourism, Tourists and Society, 4th Edition (2008).; Philip R. Stone is a former Management Consultant within the tourism and hospitality sector, and is presently a Senior Lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. He teaches tourism, hospitality and event management at undergraduate and postgraduate level. He is also Founder and Editor of The Dark Tourism Forum, the premier online dark tourism subject resource facility and global alliance of scholars and industry practitioners (see www.dark-tourism.org.uk ). His primary research interests revolve around dark tourism consumption and its relationship with contemporary society. He has published in a number of international academic journals, presented at a variety of international conferences, as well as acting as Media Consultant on dark tourism to both press and broadcast institutions across the world.

In this perspective-broadening text, Sharpley and Stone (and their fellow observers of the prominence of sites of death and disaster) shine informed light on the rich but undersuspected connectivities of tourism. The dark and unquenchable business of thanatourism is colourfully and critically painted in arrestive shades of cultural, political, and public significance.Keith Hollinshead, Professor of Public Culture,Tourism Studies, The Business School, University of BedfordshireThe book would be a fine addition to any tourism library and would be of interest to heritage planners and managers, tourism researchers, and graduate or senior undergraduate tourism students.Paul F. Wilkinson, York University, Canada in e-Review of Tourism Research, Vol. 8, No. 1, 2010Dark tourism is a subject area that has seen substantial growth in academic attention over the past decade, beginning with Foley and Lennon's (2000) Dark Tourism: The Attraction of Death and Disaster (2000). This new text is thus the latest in a growing body of literature. The quality of research and the depth of thought that has gone into the study of this phenomenon over the past decade are fascinating. The Darker Side of Travel: The Theory and Practice of Dark Tourism illustrates how research in this area has moved from the simple theoretical development and case studies presented in Foley and Lennon to an understanding the development and management of dark tourism sites.Wayne William Smith, College of Charleston, USA. Annals of Tourism Research 3 7.

Contributors 1.Shedding light on dark tourism: an Introduction - Richard Sharpley 2.Making absent death present - consuming dark tourism in contemporary society - Philip R. Stone 3.Dark tourism: mediating between the dead and the living - Tony Walter 4.Dark tourism: morality and new moral spaces - Philip R. Stone 5.Purposeful otherness: approaches to the management of thanatourism - Tony Seaton 6.(Re)presenting the Macabre: interpretation, kitschification and authenticity - Richard Sharpley and Philip R. Stone 7.Contested national tragedies: an ethical dimension - Craig Wight 8.Dark tourism and political ideology: towards a governance model - Richard Sharpley 9.'It's a Bloody Guide' - Fun, fear and a lighter side of dark tourism at The Dungeon visitor attractions, UK - Philip R. Stone 10.Battlefield tourism: bringing organised violence back to life - Frank Baldwin and Richard Sharpley 11.'Genocide tourism' - John Beech 12.Museums, memorials and plantation houses in the Black Atlantic: slavery and the development of dark tourism - Alan RiceLife, Death and Dark Tourism: future research directions and concluding commentsRichard Sharpley and Philip R. StoneReferencesIndex