Rethinking slavery heritage tourism

Abstract

This paper argues that the investigation of slavery heritage within a ‘thana’- or ‘dark’ tourism framework invariably fails to appreciate the subtleties, power relationships and various contestations that are at play in both the presentation and consumption of former Transatlantic Slave Trade (TAST) sites. Instead, the authors argue that a combination of Halbwachs’ collective memory theory and Tunbridge and Ashworth's concept of dissonant heritage can provide a deeper understanding of tourism linked to such sites. A study of TAST sites in Ghana identified six key groups of stakeholders involved in the interpretation of slavery heritage, each with its own agenda, desire to remember or forget slave memories and desire to compose different narratives. By analysing collective slave memories, the study proposes a framework that demonstrates that tourism to TAST-related sites is complex and nuanced because it relates to the nature of the historic event itself, intrinsic qualities of TAST-related sites in terms of current relevance and the closeness of the event or site to each stakeholder.

Keywords:

• slavery heritage tourism
• collective memory
• dissonant heritage
• collective slave memory
• dark tourism

Notes on contributors

Aaron Yankholmes holds a Ph.D. in Tourism Management from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. One of his main research interests is to elucidate the spatial dynamics of tourism at former Transatlantic Slave Trade sites.

Bob McKercher has wide ranging research interests. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Melbourne in Australia, a master's degree from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and his undergraduate degree from York University in Toronto, Canada. Prior to entering academia, he worked in a variety of operational and advocacy position in the Canadian tourism industry.