Understanding the reflections of battlefield tourists regarding their experiences to sites associated with WWI and the Vietnam War: An analysis of travel blogs. Ann Upton MITM 2015 Abstract The travel and tourism industry is connected to the ideas of leisure and relaxation, however not all tourism sites and experiences occur in this way. Dark tourism or thanatourism relates to the darker side of travel; it has the potential to incite deeper feelings and emotions. It is commonly described as travel to places associated with death. For that reason battlefield tourism is a category of dark tourism. Battlefield tourism experiences have the potential to provoke the contemplation of life and death. The aim of this study is to explore online travel blogs to discover and understand the reflections of battlefield tourists who visit sites that have witnessed terrible loss of human life and acts of inhumanity, sites that represent the worst of humankind. This study takes an interpretivist approach, utilising qualitative and unobtrusive data collection methods to obtain relevant travel blogs. The selected case studies include sites associated with WWI (Belgium, France and Turkey) and sites connected to the Vietnam War (or American War), including the War Remnants Museum, Cu Chi Tunnels and My Lai. The selected research method involved the process of thematic analysis, which enabled the examination of 40 travel blogs, 20 blogs per case study. The rationale for these cases is that they have not been previously analysed in a study which focuses on the tourists’ reflections of their experiences at sites of historic warfare, and which focuses specifically on the concept of dark tourism and mortality. The findings suggest that tourists can have a deeply reflective experience at sites of historic warfare. In addition, they can also experience contested feelings towards the war narrative. The three key outcomes are: mortality mediation involving a connection with the dead, contemplation of their own mortality and viewing death statistics as real people. Another outcome was contested mortality mediation which occurred when tourists felt a dissonance towards the narrative of war. The third outcome was a connection with the living which included an emotional connection to the local people. These three outcomes led to the overall understanding of battlefield experiences, which is the meaning of life and humanity (connecting to people), and the passing of time (the writing of history – of winners and losers). The findings of this study add to the knowledge of battlefield tourism, helping to understand how tourists experience historic sites of war. With continued research there will come a ii greater understanding of how best to manage battlefield tourism sites and experiences in the present and future. iii Attestation of Authorship I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person, nor material which to a substantial extent has been submitted for the award of any other degree or diploma of a university or other institution of higher learning. .............................................................. Ann Upton iv Acknowledgements Throughout my journey of completing this thesis I have received support, assistance, advice and motivation from a number of people who I would like to thank for their time and effort. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge my supervisors Dr Heike Schänzel and Dr Michael LÜck who have supported and guided me from start to finish. Thank you for your advice on how best to approach and analyse this topic. You both have kept me motivated throughout this research process and have enabled me to gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter. It was wonderful to have you as my supervisors, thank you very much. I also give my thanks to Dr Hamish Bremner (Master of International Tourism Management - Programme Leader) for providing advice on how best to conduct analysis on two very different case study sites. I would also like to thank the advice provided by Charles Grinter (Ethics Co-ordinator) regarding the ethical issues involved in internet research and blogging. In addition, I would like to acknowledge the services provided by the AUT Postgraduate Centre, I found the qualitative research workshops very helpful when beginning the analysis and discussion chapters. Importantly, I must also acknowledge the anonymous bloggers who were the centre of this study. I am very thankful to these people who took the time to share their experiences with the online world. By discussing their thoughts, feelings and reflections on their blogs I have been able to gain an understanding of the experiences of battlefield tourists. Finally, I wish to thank my parents for supporting me on this journey. Without their constant support and encouragement this would not have been possible. Thank you for always believing in me. v Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... v 1 Chapter One: Introduction ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research aim and objectives ................................................................................... 4 1.2 Paradigm and methods used .................................................................................... 6 1.3 Thesis structure ........................................................................................................ 7 2 Chapter Two: Literature ............................................................................................. 8 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 8 2.2 Philosophy of death ................................................................................................. 9 2.3 Dark tourism and thanatourism ............................................................................. 10 2.4 Dark tourism demand and supply .......................................................................... 12 2.5 Dark tourism spectrum of supply .......................................................................... 14 2.6 The other dead ....................................................................................................... 16 2.7 Dark tourism – mediators linking the living to the dead ....................................... 16 2.8 Warfare tourism ..................................................................................................... 20 2.9 War and tourism .................................................................................................... 23 2.10 Battlefield case studies ........................................................................................ 29 2.11 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 38 3 Chapter Three: Methodology .................................................................................... 40 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 40 3.2 Research philosophy .............................................................................................. 42 3.3 Research methodology .......................................................................................... 45 3.4 Research analysis ................................................................................................... 48 3.5 Data collection ....................................................................................................... 52 3.6 Blog collection methods ........................................................................................ 59 3.7 Travel bloggers ...................................................................................................... 60 3.8 Data analysis method ............................................................................................. 61 3.9 Ethics ..................................................................................................................... 64 3.10 Trustworthiness in qualitative case study research ............................................. 67 vi 3.11 Limitations ........................................................................................................... 70 3.12 Reflexivity ........................................................................................................... 71 3.13 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 73 4 Chapter Four: Findings - WWI ................................................................................ 75 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 75 4.2 WWI bloggers ....................................................................................................... 75 4.3 Dark tourism (battlefield) experience .................................................................... 76 4.4 National or personal bond ..................................................................................... 78 4.5 Realities of warfare ...............................................................................................