Disaster tourism can help locals rebuild a devastated area. Photo: CFP

 

Standing on Kathmandu's Durbar Square six days after a devastating earthquake struck Nepal in April, Liang Tingjun was shocked by the scene around him. The spectacular square once surrounded by historical buildings and palaces built between the 16th and 19th centuries, lay in ruins. It was the first time Liang had come so close to a disaster area.

Over the past year, the freelance blogger from Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, has traveled around the world. But standing on this square, a United Nations World Heritage site, evoked in him such strong feelings that he had never felt before.

"I came to Durbar Square with the belief that I should document this place that once used to be filled with tourists, now about 40 percent of the architecture has been destroyed. I felt so sad that these buildings will never be appreciated again. In that moment, I felt I should 'seize the day.'"

Liang's travel experience in quake-ravaged Nepal has become known as "disaster tourism" - a term used to describe traveling to places that have either suffered natural or man-made disasters.

Reasons to travel

Daniel Wright, a tourism lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK, has noted an important motive for disaster tourism is curiosity. "Humans will always have a curious urge to engage with the unknown, and therefore there will always be tourists that will participate in disaster tourism."

Wright did a case study about the effects of tourism in the wake of the L'Aquila earthquake in Italy in 2009, in which 309 people died.

"To date the city [L'Aquila] remains in a state that could be explained as an open museum and a memory of the tragic day. When visiting L'Aquila one can be overwhelmed by the damage and the silence that engulfs the city," Wright told Metropolitan.

Fan Yibo, an avid traveler who has visited 62 countries, says traveling to an area which has recently been struck by a disaster presents the opportunity for a good travel bargain and even better service.

Fan visited Japan in March of 2011, several days after a tsunami killed thousands, and the country was trying to contain a nuclear spill at Fukushima.

"Usually that time of year is the cherry blossom blooming season when it is crowded with tourists, but when I was there, there were few tourists," said Fan.

He managed to book the popular Hiiragiya Hotel that usually requires advance booking of several months.

"The hotel arranged traditional kabuki performances for me. In those disaster-stricken places, tourism costs are less but the service quality is better."

In addition, it is far easier for those traveling in disaster areas to make connections with locals.

When Fan visited Myanmar about a month after the 2008 flood, he met a local woman who led the tour for Fan and several other foreign tourists.

"She told us it was the second time she was paid by tourists after the flood. She was very thankful and invited us to dine at her home and shared her personal experiences with us," recalled Fan.

The Nepalese government wants to reopen the site devastated by the earthquake for tourists. Photos: Courtesy of Liang Tingjun

 

Benefiting the local economy  

Jiang Yawei, a tourism management researcher at the University of Queensland, runs a website focusing on disaster tourism.

She said the initial intention of disaster tourism was to help in the recovery of the local economy in disaster areas.

"Some places, especially those which depend on income from tourism, will lose a certain share of the tourism market immediately after the disaster. So running disaster tourism operations can be beneficial for the economy."

Usually local governments and travel agencies also try to do all they can to promote tourism to the disaster affected areas.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, Indonesia established a travel route to the nearest village on Mount Merapi after two major volcanic eruptions in 2010, to help the revival of the tourism industry. Guided bus tours were also organized to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. 

In China, the Wenchuan earthquake in Shuimo town, Sichuan Province in 2008, also had a positive outcome on the area. From a previously heavily polluted town of heavy industries, it has turned in to a popular tourist destination.

Following the reconstruction of the area by local government, minority groups are now living in the new buildings, and various public facilities have been created around its Shouxi Lake, the most frequently visited place in the area.

According to a 2012 report by China.com.cn, more than 30,000 tourists visited the town each day during the National Day holidays after its successful reconstruction.

Ethical considerations

After Hurricane Katrina, some tour operators started zealously organizing tours to the hardest-hit areas, causing inconvenience and discomfort to the locals. Many have questioned whether it's morally decent to capitalize on other people's misfortune. Since then, the so-called "disaster tour" has grabbed worldwide attention.

In Wright's opinion, consideration must be given to how tourism can benefit both victims and locals and how visitors will be received.

 "As disasters vary considerably, as do locations around the globe, it is therefore vital to understand that the social and mental fabric of societies differ, therefore post-disaster individual and collective reactions can be significantly different," said Wright.

He cited the example of Christchurch in New Zealand. In 2013, two years after an earthquake destroyed large parts of the city, a Rebuild Tour was introduced for tourists to raise money for rebuilding efforts. The 90-minute bus ride takes visitors through so-called "red zones" - the no-go areas hardest hit by the quake, much of which is still under construction today.

The tour is now one of the city's most popular visitor attractions.

Wright said this would not have been viewed in a favorable light in L'Aquila.

"Being a town situated in the mountains, L'Aquila has been relatively isolated as a destination. This isolation has however led to a closed mentality which has especially in the initial stages created an unfavorable attitude toward the invasion of disaster tourists curious to gaze at their tragedy," he explained.

After April's earthquake in Nepal, the government has also expressed the desire to boost tourism to help rebuild the country.

"We are urging people to come to Nepal for holiday to help Nepal rebuild," Kripasur Sherpa, Nepal's Tourism Minister, told the New York Times last month.

"If Nepal decides to set up tours to showcase the damage of the earthquake, the local people have to be consulted to ensure they are not exploited by tourism but gain from the positive aspects that can be attained from tourism, be it financial or as a means for expressing their experiences," Wright said.

Liang said despite the disaster in Nepal, it is still possible to travel in the area.

But he warned that tourists should be aware of the possibility of a secondary disaster. There have already been several smaller earthquakes and tremors since the major earthquake in April.

"Besides documenting the history, it's also important to see what you can do to help the locals to rebuild and recover," said Liang.