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‘Death as a Commodity’: The Retailing of Dark Tourism

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The Palgrave Handbook of Dark Tourism Studies

Abstract

A plush ‘RMS Titanic Crew Bear’ toy from the ‘Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition’ in Ireland, a can of ‘The Last Breath of Communism’ from ‘Memento Park’ in Budapest, and a copy of the book Chained on the Rock: Slavery in Bermuda from the ‘Bermuda Maritime Museum’. These are all souvenirs or mementos that represent the breadth of items that can be purchased at visitor attractions related to dark tourism. Consequently, the fundamental question is whether these types of product items should be offered for sale and should you purchase them?

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Although there is debate on a number of events in history that may or may not have been classified as genocide, the ones selected have all been classified in this manner by the United Nations Convention on Genocide adopted in December 1948.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada

    Brent McKenzie

Authors
  1. Brent McKenzie
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom

    Philip R. Stone

  2. University of Colorado Denver, Denver, USA

    Rudi Hartmann

  3. University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Tony Seaton

  4. University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom

    Richard Sharpley

  5. Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia

    Leanne White

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McKenzie, B. (2018). ‘Death as a Commodity’: The Retailing of Dark Tourism. In: R. Stone, P., Hartmann, R., Seaton, T., Sharpley, R., White, L. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Dark Tourism Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47566-4_27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47566-4_27

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-47565-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-47566-4

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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