**Motivations for Disaster Tourism**:
– Attraction due to personal connections in social, academic, or cultural aspects.
– Providing relief through volunteer work or donations.
– Desire to learn about the event and its impact.
– Curiosity and sense of adventure.
– Unintentional visits as part of sightseeing.
**Reception of Disaster Tourism**:
– Criticism for being voyeuristic and profiting from tragedy.
– Advocacy for aiding economic recovery and raising awareness of local culture.
– Varied perception based on disaster nature and time passed.
– Potential for educational or exploitative outcomes.
– Complex impact on local economies based on tour types.
**Virtual Reality in Disaster Tourism**:
– Negative reception of Facebook’s virtual tour of Puerto Rico post-Hurricane Maria.
– Use of VR criticized for insensitivity but potential for disaster relief aid.
– Mark Zuckerberg’s apology for the tone of the virtual tour.
– Application of VR technology in disaster tourism scenarios.
– Balancing sensitivity and technological innovation in virtual tours.
**Examples of Disaster Tourism Sites**:
– Pompeii and Herculaneum after Mount Vesuvius eruption.
– The Hindenburg disaster site marked by a bronze plaque.
– Historical landmarks attracting millions of visitors annually.
– Eyjafjallajökull and Mount Merapi eruptions as tourist attractions.
– Impact of disaster tourism on preserving historical events.
**Impact and Consequences of Specific Natural Disasters**:
– Chernobyl Nuclear Plant Explosion (1986) and its aftermath.
– Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (1989) and environmental impact.
– Hurricane Katrina (2005) devastating New Orleans.
– Eyjafjallajökull eruption (2010) disrupting air travel.
– Mount Merapi eruption (2010) causing casualties and displacement.
This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2009) |
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]
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.