Thanatourism and the commodification of space in post-war Croatia and Bosnia

Abstract

This paper presents a detailed case study of thanatourism in three post-conflict cities in ex-Yugoslavia by examining the commodification of sites associated with the 1990s conflict. The paper will discuss a range of sites in Vukovar, Dubrovnik and Sarajevo where stakeholders have transformed former war spaces into mass and niche tourist attractions. The paper will use examples from three cities to posit the argument that war tourism space has several stakeholders who, by commemorating and representing tragic events, facilitate the arrival of the dark tourism industry. Evidence from interview work carried out by the researcher, newspaper reports and other secondary sources strongly suggests that the thanatourism industry plays a significant role in the tourist industry in ex-Yugoslavia. This role will be deconstructed to examine how different meanings have been attached to particular sites in the cities, by tourists, private enterprise and the city’s tourism authorities. The paper seeks to further dark tourism research by providing a holistic understanding of the various stakeholders involved in the commodification process. The paper argues that when considering heritage, or historical dark tourism, motivations and sites themselves do not need to be examined independently. Rather a visitor’s pursuit of a site and the role of the heritage ownership is intrinsically linked to both its production and commodification. Throughout the paper examples will be discussed to posit the argument that the commodification of space for dark tourism has three main stakeholders; public institutions, private business and dark tourists themselves, whether incidental or otherwise..