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Dear Dale An interesting question you pose and one I imagine feel more discussion. The fact of the matter is that Northern Ireland been a dark tourism destination but perhaps it not such an obvious manner as it is now. WIth regard to is it ethical, it would be worth knowing the reasons for your choice of the bus tour, presuming you were not of course coerced onto it!? Were the world such a simple place that so-called dark tourism could be banned until such a time that the troubles had been 'sorted out'. On the hand, where there are clear human rights abuses associated with tourism (cf. Burma) then there would be a case for restricting, or at least urging people not to travel to such a destination. But can this be argued in the case of Northern Ireland? The problem of course is who is to decide the point at which the 'issues surrounding the troubles' are indeed over? Some might take the line that this point could only be reached at such a time that Northern Ireland became reunited with the south, a definition which would clearly not be acceptable to others. Herein lies the conundrum for ethical tourism - morally responsible travel needs to set in the context of the destination's political economy, however, the decision to go/or not to go then becomes impossibly abstract and intractable. Clearly, also, the context within which such travel is pursued is of significance. It is posssible to visit East Jerusalem and the West Bank independently, or through either official Israeli tour agencies and with Palestinian tour guides - each of which endows the visit with a different resonance and implicates the tourist in a different set of relationships with the 'hosts'. On another note, dark tourism (and what this connotes) is not only limited to areas of civil war and poitical conflict; we could stretch this question to encompass myriad different aspects of the 'tourist gaze', including the voyeurism associated with visits to impoverished villages in poor countries, 'Holocaust' heritage as discussed in Greg Ashworth's book, and much more... Just some thoughts. Raoul Bianchi Research Fellow University of North London Dale Simpson wrote: > This is my first message to the mailing list and it relates to a topic that > was discussed last year, ie: dark tourism. > I just wanted to raise the point, could Northern Ireland as a result of its > troubled past now become a dark tourist destination. I was on holiday there > for a week and went on a bus tour in Belfast that was set-up to show people > the areas and sites of importance during the troubles, is: death and bomb > sites. This 'dark' element in Northern Ireland has provided an opportunity > for tourism development, but is this ethical. I personally believe that it > should not be developed until the troubles and all the issues surrounding > the troubles have been solved. However, if the problem was solved, > development as a purpose for education as opposed to monetary gain would be > acceptable.