Evaluation of the Disaster Tourism Potential of Countries

Introduction

Disasters are tragic events that cause the loss of life and property. Landmarks such as monuments, museums, and disaster heritage sites symbolizing tragedies attract tourists (Lin et al., 2021). Chernobyl, Hiroshima, and Pompeii are the most popular disaster destinations. Places like these pave the way for visitors to empathize with the victims and feel what has happened. The curiosity of people to feel sadness and pain motivates disaster tourism. In addition, the fact that the media gives a global character by announcing disasters to large masses triggers the growth of disaster tourism (Sharpley & Wright, 2018). Thus, many ordinary places have become attractive destinations after the disaster (Shondell Miller, 2008). In this context, each disaster region has the potential for disaster tourism, which offers various benefits.

This chapter examines the benefits that prompt countries to consider the tourism potential of disasters in two dimensions: i) Economic, ii) Risk reduction. Disasters occur as undesirable events, but the tourism activity after it creates a positive effect. This situation is considered the “blessing in disguise” effect and attracts the attention of many researchers (Biran et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2009). Although disaster tourism is the subject of ethical debates since it is fed with pain (Rucinska & Lechowicz, 2014), it is seen that it has become a tourism sector with a serious economic size under “Dark Tourism” (Caisarina et al., 2021; Lin et al., 2018). On the other hand, disaster tourism makes significant contributions to the objectives of disaster management, such as increasing resilience and reducing risk (Fountain & Cradock-Henry, 2020; Lin et al., 2021).

The people living in a disaster region organize their entire lives to increase their resilience against the negative effects of disasters. By adopting this living environment in which they were born, new generations grow up with higher disaster resistance compared to their peers in different geographies. Additionally, disaster tourism can be implemented as a strategy to improve local livelihoods and build community resilience (Liu-Lastres et al., 2020). Additionally, disaster destinations play the role of “Disaster Storytelling” to visitors (Nagamatsu et al., 2021). It encompasses the activities of drawing, painting, singing, drama, or photography as well as verbal or written narratives as a means of conveying lessons learned from a disaster, sharing emotions, and developing empathy for others (Tanaka et al., 2021).

All kinds of touristic actions associated with the disaster, such as tours, entertainment, dramas, and museums, tell visitors about the disaster. In this context, visitors are informed about the causes, negligence, and consequences of the disaster and become more conscious individuals than before the visit. If the issue is handled in terms of tourism organizers, another stakeholder, it should be emphasized that the disaster tourism potential of a region can change with its exposure to disaster (Huang et al., 2022).

Ide (2009) categorizes disaster areas in terms of tourism into four types. Type A: The region was a tourist destination before the disaster and continues after. Type B: The region became a tourist destination after the disaster. Type C: The region was a tourist destination before the disaster and could not continue after. Type D: The region was not a tourist destination before the disaster. It became a touristic center after the disaster but could not maintain its status. This classification reminds the variability of disaster tourism destinations, that new destinations can be created at any time and existing destinations may disappear.

It is home truth that a tourist's interest in a disaster destination is proportional to the magnitude of the losses caused by the disaster. This can be attributed to the 3-factor theory.