Ahmed Shareef

If you were at a tourism college you might have heard of tourism being multi-dimensional. But, have you ever heard of earthquake debris being converted to a tourism product?

Chinese province of Suchian was hit by a deadly earthquake measured 8.0 magnitude on 12th May 2008. Thousands of people were killed and many were buried both alive and dead underneath building collapses as per reports. The tragedy capsized lives of the province with no hope for generations to come.

Suchian Tourism Bureau had recently announced development of a museum park with all building collapses as tourist attractions. Some news papers reported that demand for this tourism product was huge as per Chinese officials and it was difficult to avoid the public demand. Hoping visitors would pay due respect to the lives passed away, Chinese officials were initially to open places like schools, bridges and factories.

Now, do you wonder if a country like Maldives can overturn the tsunami debris into dark tourism? As for Chinese, it is not difficult to assume that they targeted for domestic tourism. The country’s population is big enough for a market, and proportion of population who suffered such disasters is very small. So, there is a huge chunk in the target market who might be interested to visit the museum. Comparing the same to Maldives, there seems no leverage in size of local population and no strength in the segment.

Though, I am not an expert marketer, comparing the scenario for both Suchians and Maldivians, the picture comes in two different colours. Even if Suchian citizens benefit out of the disaster, it may not be only impossible for Maldivians to benefit out of tsunami, but also lead to negative effects on already established beach holiday market. If you were a holidaymaker in Maldives and you saw tsunami debris, would it makes you come back again or would it make you fly back home quickly? Or just none?

If you are tired of reading the dark tourism, allow me to cook another dish with same meat!

Though I am not a basketball fan, it is well-known that basket players are usually very tall. Assuming you are not that tall, if you take some pills and manage to reach the height you desire, could it have adverse effects, just like dark tourism not being suitable for Maldives? The comparision has now taken shape of a principle?