Introduction: The main purpose of this assignment is to show the relationship that dark tourism has with international tourism and how this will influence future trends. “Tourism is one of the ways in which we try to approach and understand otherness” (Willis, 2014). Dark tourism has recently become a huge draw for tourists interested in historic sites that have been involved in mortality or tragedy. The relationship between death and tourism has become a vast research topic within tourism studies, but understanding of dark tourism remains limited. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Visit sites like the Hiroshima nuclear bomb in Japan, the Ground Zero 9/11 memorial in New York, concentration camps in places like Auschwitz in Poland, cemeteries where famous people are buried, Pompeii, the federal prison of Alcatraz off San Francisco and much more are some of the popular areas that people would like to visit. Tourists travel to see these sites for their dark and disturbing history that has taken place in the area and is a way of dealing with mortality with modern society. While dark tourism has been around for a long time, it is only recently becoming incredibly popular and widespread, and more research is still ongoing. Smith (1998), suggests that war-related areas constitute “the largest category of tourist attractions in the world” (Sharpley and Stone 2009). Furthermore, various death-related attractions, such as the “Dracula Experience” in Whitby, UK, or the Vienna Funeral Museum, locations of some “famous” deaths (Alderman 2002). These are just some of the very few "dark tourism" attractions that have become popular among people who want to gain such experiences. Definition: “Tourism is a set of activities, services and industries that provide a travel experience including transportation, accommodation, eating and drinking establishments, retail stores, entertainment activities and hospitality services provided to traveling individuals or groups away from home” (Feuler 1905 ). In 1950 there were an average of 25 million international tourists, but this has recently grown to 763 million in 2004. The usual package holidays are made for sun worshipers and thrill-seeking travellers. However, in recent years people have been attracted to travel to different places. reasons such as “towards sites, attractions or events that are in some way linked to negative historical events in which death, violence, suffering or disaster played an important role” (Sharpley and Stone 2009). As we know, dark tourism is becoming very popular in recent years, but the origins of dark tourism began years ago in Roman times, when people gathered in arenas to watch gladiator fights or public executions during the Middle Ages (Stone 2005). This type of tourism has existed for several years, but did not get the name “dark tourism” until 1996 by Lennon and Foley (2006). Later some people tried to retract the label "dark tourism", Blom labeled it "morbid tourism" and Seaton also introduced the term "thanatourism" in 1996. The term dark tourism is related to war, slavery and memorial of death. Ashworth (2004) identified four characteristics that a site or event should have in the 'dark tourism' site for the attraction to be successful. The first characteristic he mentioned is that there must be a human executioner just as there must be a human victim, if these people are present, they canidentify themselves as executioners or victims. Secondly, the perpetrator must have taken part in the action and intended to do it and the victim must be innocent and not in control of his condition. The third characteristic he mentions is that atrocity implies excellent seriousness or unusualness. It must be truly out of the ordinary to be able to do this to capture the tourist's attention. Finally, Ashworth mentions “an atrocity is a known and remembered event that requires knowledge and memorability” (Ashworth 2004). The history of dark tourism: Pilgrimage is seen as one of the earliest forms of 'dark tourism'. Pilgrimage is originally identified as having a religious or spiritual meaning. It is often not only related to the deaths of people, but these deaths usually have a religious or conceptual importance that has meaning for a group of people. This may contain a psychological journey for observers. This can sometimes be related to achieving social or economic position (Lennon and Foley 2003). As mentioned above, in the early stages of the existence of dark tourism there was the curiosity of death, for example public executions in medieval times and also the gathering of people to watch gladiator fights in Roman times, the Roman Colosseum is also seen as one of the first dark tourism attractions. Dark tourism travel motivations: “Motivation (in tourism) those factors that make tourists want to purchase a particular product or service” (Swarbrooke and Horner 2007). Tourist behaviors are a very complex issue as there is no specific perception of what motivates tourists to travel. Crompton's classification of travel motivations (1979), presented by Albanese and Boedeker (2003) listed seven characteristics that they believe motivate tourists; Escape from the routine of weekly life, relaxation, escape from socially acceptable roles, self-evaluation and contemplation, elevation of status, improvement of family relationships and finally increase of social relationships (Albanese & Boedeker 2003, 108 – 109). There is also the Push/Pull factor which identifies different motivations. Push factors allow tourists to pursue activities to satisfy their needs, e.g. adventure, thrill-seeking, desire to escape, social interactions. On the other hand, pull factors are generally known for tourists traveling to a destination that they have a lot to do. knowledge before the trip, such as recreational facilities, beaches or cultural attractions (Crompton 1979). Regularly people assume that people interested in dark tourism are looking for attractions related to death and disaster, but they are also interested in looking for history and heritage, education, memories of the past and suffering (Genov 2008) . From past research there are seven different types of dark tourism sites which include; Holocaust tourism, battlefield tourism, prison tourism, slavery tourism, monument tourism and black area tourism. When visiting a "dark tourism" site or attraction, you can experience many different emotions depending on each individual who visits, it can have a positive or negative effect. Plutchik examined people's emotions depending on the destination they are visiting, classifying them into four different groups of positive and negative emotions. The four sets consist of; joy versus sadness, trust versus disgust, fear versus anger, and surprise versus anticipation (Plutchik 1980). Trends and problems with "dark tourism": Dark tourism presents itself as a negative factor in tourism as it is mainly focused on death and horror, but attractions such as concentration camps, holocaust memorials, etc. they have all been reopened to touristsas dark tourism sites out of respect for the victims who died. Everyone is different and has different thoughts, some may think that evidence of past dark events should be destroyed because they want to forget and move on from those past events. On the other hand, some people want to preserve all evidence of past events and share with others what is left in honor of those who were killed. By having these memorial sites, it helps people who lived and survive, or know family members, to come out and talk about their stories. Primo Levi, one of the few survivors of the Shoah, stated that “with the passing of the years and decades [the barracks and extermination camps] lose nothing of their meaning as a Warning Monument; rather, they acquire meaning” (Lennon and Foley 2006). Many of these attractions have also recently included multimedia videos to give observers a more vivid experience of the tragedies. These sites can be very informative for people who want to learn about the history of these events. Some people are now interested in this type of tourism rather than the usual sun holidays, this is because they want to see the reality and the scars that have been left. Dark tourism is said to be a “mind-broadening exercise” (Hohenhaus 2010). There are also some problems and positive aspects to dark tourism. While recreating these attractions where tragedies occurred, some think the actual experience would be destroyed and ruined because it was revamped. This may cause visitors to take these destinations less seriously (Bowe 2014). Another disadvantage would be that not many young people and tourists with a lower level of education would be very interested in this type of event, as it would attract an older generation. This type of tourism sometimes may not bring any benefit to the locals or victims because a lot of money and attention from the government is essential to promote this type of tourism (Maharjan 2015). The Future of Dark Tourism: Some may see dark tourism as a motivation to travel to see these dark historical places, but others may see dark tourism as a way to profit from tragedy. It may be difficult for some attractions to manage the reactions of some visitors in relation to friendliness and safety. But where will dark tourism be in the future? “If the heinous and murderous nature of human beings continues through the era and terrorism, the potential for a tourist scenario in which death is an entertainment product for a wealthy elite will become a reality in the future” (Wright 2016). From the research it is identified how dark tourism will be managed differently and has much potential for development. There are several factors that show the development potential of this sector, these factors have been identified by previous scholars. Scary Parks: Dr Wright outlined how he thinks dark tourism could have potential and that in the future there will be entertainment and success in having "terror parks" by 2100. He exclaims that these parks will have a "greater intensity of entertainment as motivation" demand) and experience (supply). These parks will be particularly focused on the horror and death of past events (Wright 2016). Popular “dark tourism” destinations: Hiroshima: In 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. The Enola Gay bomber dropped the atomic bomb on August 6, 1945 near the end of World War II. The place was surrounded by heat of up to 4,000 degrees Celsius which killed over 140,000 people and left many terrible wounds (Ryan 2017). Since then, Hiroshima has become a very popular destination..