War tourism is recreational travel to active or former war zones for purposes of sightseeing or historical study. The term may be usedpejoratively to describe thrill-seeking in dangerous and forbidden places. In 1988,P. J. O'Rourke applied the pejorative meaning towar correspondents.[1]
War artists and correspondents such asWillem van de Velde are considered to be the first war tourists. Van de Velde took to sea in 1653 in a small boat to observe a naval battle between the Dutch and the English, making many sketches on the spot.[2]
During theCrimean War, tourists led byMark Twain visited the wrecked city ofSevastopol – he even scolded his travel mates for walking off with souvenir shrapnel.Prince Menshikov invited the ladies of Sevastopol to watch thebattle of Alma from a nearby hill.Fanny Duberly traveled with her husband to theCrimea in 1854 and stayed with him throughout his time there, despite the protests of commanders such asLord Lucan. As the only woman at the front-lines, she was the center of much attention. She was told of planned attacks ahead of time, giving her the opportunity to be in a good position to witness them.[citation needed]
TheFirst Battle of Bull Run, also known as the First Battle of Manassas, was fought on July 21, 1861, inPrince William County, Virginia, near the city ofManassas. It was the first major land battle of theAmerican Civil War. Expecting an easy Union victory, the wealthy elite of nearby Washington, including congressmen and their families, had come to picnic and watch the battle. When the Union army was driven back, the roads back to Washington were blocked by panicked civilians attempting to flee in their carriages.Frank Leslie made an engraving of this calledThe Soldier in Our Civil War.[3] TheBattle of Gettysburg was also spectated by a number of tourists,[4] includingArthur Lyon Fremantle.
Thomas Cook began promoting tours to the battlefields of theSecond Boer War before the conflict had ended. A variety of other travel agents advertised the easily accessible and picturesque battlefields ofTugela andLadysmith. Groups of tourists also closely followed theFranco-Prussian War visiting the battlefields shortly after the fighting was over. The above were criticized byAlfred Milner,The Observer andPunch.[5]
One of the first travel agents,Henry Gaze, created a tour which included thebattlefield of Waterloo in 1854. Waterloo was also a destination of an 1886Polytechnic Touring Association tour, during which schoolboys and teachers visited the site for educational purposes. According to the 1913Thomas Cook travel guide, the rising popularity of Waterloo as a tourist attraction led to the appearance of numerous charlatans claiming to have participated in the battle. The guide also highlighted the booming trade of relics and souvenirs related to the engagement.[6]
Despite the criticism war tourism continued to develop following the pace of the tourism industry in general. At the beginning ofWorld War I it became evident that following the end of the war, the related battlefields would attract considerable attention from potential tourists. Although instances of war tourism during the Great War have been documented, they remained limited due to opposition by the French authorities.[7]
Following the end of the war, previous instances of trophy hunting were replaced bypilgrimage style visits. British intelligence officerHugh Pollard described theYpres Salient as a holy ground due to the large number ofEntente graves in the region. Numerous veterans echoed those thoughts. Anglican and Catholicreligious tourism became increasingly linked with war tourism during the interwar period. In September 1934, 100,000 Catholic former servicemen from both sides of the conflict visited Lourdes in order to pray for peace. A large number of Anglican tourists also undertook tours to the battlefields of thePalestinian campaign.Greece,Turkey andItaly also became popular war tourism destinations.[8][9]
A large number of battlefield guides were produced by a variety of travel agencies further fueling the rise of war tours. A 1936 study brought to light the fact that the majority of war tourists during the period were driven by curiosity or were paying homage to their deceased relatives.[10] Today, WWI battlefield tourism attracts tens of thousands of tourists to former war zones on theWestern Front and in theDardanelles for example.[11]
Following the end ofWorld War II former battlefields created new war tourist destinations.Saipan, as well as other battlefields of the Pacific, became a place of pilgrimage for Japanese veterans who reburied and erected monuments to their fallen comrades.[12]
Foley and Lennon explored the idea that people are attracted to regions and sites where "inhuman acts" have occurred. They claim that motivation is driven by media coverage and a desire to see for themselves, and that there is asymbiotic relationship between the attraction and the visitor, whether it be adeath camp or site of a celebrity's death.[13]
During theSiege of Sarajevo (1992–1996), an alleged war tourism phenomenon took place involvinghuman hunting dubbed theSarajevo Safari. According to reports, wealthy foreign nationals were enabled, for large monetary fees, to shoot at civilians in the besieged city with sniper rifles for entertainment purposes.
Former security professional Rick Sweeney formed War Zone Tours in 2008, while another of the companies operating in this market was begun by a formerTheNew York Times journalist Nicholas Wood.[14] Sweeney is part of a group of tour guides who take tourists to countries that have experienced or are mired in conflict. A tourist on a trip toBaghdad in 2010 might have paid up to $40,000.In 2014, war tourism was reportedly on the increase[15] and included tourists in Israel to spectate on theSyrian Civil War. The desire for the experience and the documentation and photographing of it through social networking could be helping to increase war tourism, according to a Tel Aviv-based journalist.[16] War tourism in Israel is also covered in the 2011 documentary filmWar Matador byAvner Faingulernt and Macabit Abramson.[17] TheSyrian civil war is attracting adventure-seekers.[18] According to retiredIsrael Defense Forces colonel Kobi Marom, who leads tours of the war zone across the Israeli border, tourists are interested in seeing the conflict and go "crazy" when they learn that they are probably being observed byAl-Qaeda militants.[19]
InIran, students, members ofBasij militia and interested people are routinely taken to the former battle sites of theIran–Iraq War as the war is considered by the Iranian ruling regime a "holy defense" and an ideological pillar to the existence of the rulingIslamic Republic. The trips are organized by Basij, an offshoot of theIranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) which enlists the travelers normally in mosques, schools or universities. The trips, which are officially called "Tours for the Travelers of Light" (Persian:اردوهای راهیان نور), are low-cost and are taken by bus under poor safety conditions. Since 2008, accidents involving the buses taking the "tourists" have killed at least 70 people.[20][21][22] In 2013, the thenEducation Minister Hajibabayi proposed that those killed in these tours be granted the degree ofmartyr.[citation needed]
In 2022, Canadian politicianDominic Cardy vacationed inUkraine.[23] He visited sites that had experiencedRussian bombing and damage and shared multiple images and videos to his personalX (Twitter) account.[24]
In 2021, British internet personality'Lord' Miles Routledge visited Afghanistan during theFall of Kabul, and has since returned multiple times. He was captured and detained by the Taliban for several months. He shared photos, livestreams, videos and stories from Afghanistan online as well as later recounting his experience in interviews and a book.[citation needed]
