Dark Tourist Trips

Aim

The aim of the project is to promote the importance of Dark Tourism and Heritage in the U.K and further afield. A Dark Tourist Travel agency

Dark Tourist Trips

What is Dark Tourism??

''Dark Tourism is the most educational form of travelling possible''

Dark Tourism also known as black tourism or grief tourism is tourism that is associated with death or tradegy. These include popular dark tourism sites such as: 

• Auschwitz 
• Chernobyl 
• Ground zero 
• Cemeteries 
• Dungeons
• Horror themed events
• Historical sites
• Museums 

Recently this area of tourism has sparked the interest of the media and general public and the motivations of people who visit these sites varies greatly. 

Why is Dark Tourism important? 

• Learn about the past and try not to make it our future. This is more important than ever in our particularly divisive political climate
• A way to understand a culture/time in history and observe it with with respect and an open-minded curiosity 
• Remind you of the important aspects of life, an opportunity to open up difficult conversations and to pay respect
• Takes you out of your comfort zone and at the same time providing education

This project is something that I believe is missing in the tourism industry and the project will aim to remove the negative connections with Dark Tourism and focus on the educational side and make Dark Tourism accessible for all. 

About me

My name is Sian, I'm a Languages & International Tourism Management University graduate from Edinburgh Napier University & University of Sunderland. I specialised in Dark Tourism for my major project dissertation in my final year, this was before Dark Tourism was a popular concept so I undertook a lot of my own research at popular dark attractions. I have a great passion for this niche subject and started a Facebook page last year. Recently I have decided to turn my passion, knowledge and experience into a business and start a career I can enjoy. At the moment I don't have a team, but hopefully once my business grows I can build a team of like minded people. 

Dark Tourist Trips Vision

The main aim of this business is to promote Dark Tourism in the U.K and further afield. To make it accessible for everyone, to educate visitors who are curious about Dark Tourism and to work together with local businesses and Dark Tourist/Heritage attractions. Alongside the main vision of an online Dark Tourism travel agency, I would also like to involve schools, colleges and local communities through online learning courses. 

The Project Ideas

The money raised will help achieve the following plans for the business

• Open a unique Dark Tourist Travel Agency where I can create an online portal for visitors to book the most popular dark tourist & Heritage attractions/tours/event tickets. This will include Dark Tourist package day trips & weekends in U.K cities for example... 'Dark Tourist for a Day in Edinburgh- including 3 attractions, an itinerary & goodie bag. 
• The travel agency will also book attractions & accommodation outside of the U.K, for example, weekend breaks to Chernobyl, Pompeii or Auschwitz.
• Dark Tourist Trips will work with small businesses in the U.K specialising in Ghost Hunting and Paranormal events to advertise for ghost hunts and sell tickets on their behalf. Dark Tourist Trips will also aim to start up their own Ghost hunting events throughout the year, so professional equipment will need to be bought and a member of staff to be hired to assist.
• The money will be used for marketing purposes including a high quality attractions brochure, which can be printed & sent on request (photo of mock idea below), business cards, letter head paper, digital marketing and advertising via social media and a website with a custom domain including fees for a website developer. The website will also feature a blog with information, news, attractions & events. 
• There will be an itinerary service which is a unique idea where via the website a visitor can request a personalised itinerary. The customer will fill in details of their ideas or upcoming trip and Dark Tourist Trips will create an itinerary package with ideas on what to see & do depending on the location and duration of their stay. The money will go towards software to create professional itineraries. 

• Part of the Dark Tourist Trips website will be an area for short online courses which will be on related topics, for example, Dark Tourism, Heritage Tourism, Urban Exploration, Ghost hunting, Wicca & Parapsychology. I will require the software to create professional courses & to make certificates with the Dark Tourist Trips logo. 
• Retail store via the website, I will need to buy stock related to Dark Tourism, including books, academic books, clothing, stationery, ghost hunting equipment, dvds etc. 

These are just some of the ideas for Dark Tourist Trips. To sum up,  I want to start a Dark Tourism travel agency to promote dark tourism and to encourage visitors to visit their local sites and to learn more about the history and important events all over the world. I want to make this area of tourism accessible for everyone. 

Thank you for reading! Please email [email protected] for more information or follow our blog on Facebook. 

This project successfully funded on 23rd March 2020