Dark Tourism! The Place Chinese Travellers Are Desperate To Visit In 2020 Is Wuhan
Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province, is the place where the COVID-19 originated and has been much in the news ever since.
The human nature is such that people are often fascinated by death and tragedy. That is not to say that people have no remorse, but there is curiosity that knows no bounds.
It is this curiosity that takes people to places across that world that have had the unfortunate opportunity to meet a calamity. We are talking about dark tourism. Dark tourism has been defined as tourism involving travel to places historically associated with death and tragedy.
Let me cite an example that is relevant and has to do with 2020. This might seem strange and unexpected but it will further my point. Wuhan has been named the no.1 destination Chinese citizens want to visit after the crisis is over.
Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province, is the place where the Covid-19 originated and has been much in the news ever since.
Yes, you read that right. The study on travel needs and trends during the COVID-19 outbreak was jointly conducted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Tourism Research Center and Tencent Culture and Tourism Industry Research Center.
Reuters
The results, released on April 28, are based on 15,163 questionnaires, big data from more than 20 million posts on social media accounts and forums as well as a dozen in-depth one-on-one interviews, reports the CNN.
Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province, is the place where the Covid-19 originated and has been much in the news ever since.
Well, this isn't a first for something like this to happen. Remember, Chernobyl? Quite right, I'm talking about the nuclear disaster that took place at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine in 1986.
Reuters
Not many knew about it until HBO did a docuseries on it. People watched the show that garnered critically acclaim and left people stunned. It resulted in the now defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant seeing a boom of tourists visiting the site.
According to data, last year, 1.8 million people visited the nuclear site. Yes, 1.8 million.
Another cases in point. The largest German Nazi concentration camp and extermination center ever built, Auschwitz, that stands as a global symbol of terror and genocide that saw more than 1.1 million people lose their lives.
Reuters
The concentrations camps see a footfall of millions of tourists every year. It is a place where one of the greatest tragedies took place yet it is a venue that sees people from all around the world pay their visits.
Pearl Harbor, National 9/11 Memorial and Museum, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, and Murambi Genocide Memorial, are some of the most visited dark tourism sites in the world.
It would be no surprise if once-coronavirus epicentre Wuhan becomes the next destination.
