Horror tourism adds up

IT is a strange and dark travel trend but some of the Territory’s most brutal and mysterious events could be used to help further boost visitor numbers.

A global fascination with tragedy has turned some of history’s daunting moments into popular tourist attractions, according to statistics released by TripAdvisor.

Places such as Ground Zero, Auschwitz and Alcatraz attract thousands of visitors a year in a trend known as “dark tourism”.

In 2016, the World Trade Centre memorial was the subject of more than 62,000 TripAdvisor reviews with 54 per cent rating the site where close to 3000 people lost their lives as “excellent”.

The Tower of London with its enduring reputation as a place of torture and death was the second most reviewed site, followed by Ann Frank House in Amsterdam where the young Ann and her family hid from the Nazis in World War II.

Australia’s most reviewed dark tourism site was Port Arthur where Martin Bryant gunned down 35 people in 1996.

The Territory has had its fair share of macabre events, which have dominated global headlines – Falconio, Chamberlain and tourist slayings, however there doesn’t seem to be the draw of tourists some places around Australia receive.

Dr Elizabeth Grant, who contributed to the Palgrave Handbook of Prison Tourism coming out this month, said there was a lack of designated dark sites in the NT.

She said the Fannie Bay Gaol was one site that had been earmarked as a “dark tourism” site.

She said the NT’s lack of hyping up the dark parts of its history could be because tourism focused on other areas to attract tourists, such as its wildlife and the outback.

“Maybe the NT doesn’t play up its history because maybe you’re more busy doing things than reflecting on the past,” she said.

“Energy has been (spent) on rebuilding (after) these catastrophic events than making memorials.”

Barrow Creek Hotel owner Les Pilton said interest in the Peter Falconio murder 16 years ago had waned.

“It’s less and less (people asking about it). It’s good because people are moving on with their lives,” he said.