War Tourism

War Tourism

Tourism used to be compared with peace and quietness, but our society has changed and formed a new kind of tourism - War Tourism. This kind of tourism deals with tourist's who has an urge to experience war. This gives the word "tourism" a whole new meaning. The travelers participating in these kinds of events are mostly adults, and not young adrenalin junkies as you might have thought. But why? Why would people pay money to go see a place, where the risks of being attacked or kidnapped are so close? And why do some people have the urge to experience war, when it's not even over 35 years since we where fighting on our own grounds? This would probably be some of the questions to be asked in this context.

The article "Quenching the thirst for war" is written by Hadas Kroitoru. The article deals with a list of interviews by e.g. Geoff Hann who is the owner of the travel agency Hinterland Travel Agency and Prof. Richard Sharpley who is the head of tourism at the University of Lincoln. The agency organize travels to Iraq, Afghanistan, southeastern Turkey and Iran, in other words, some of the most war characterized countries in the world.

The headline "Quenching the thirst for war" and the topic concerning the "War Tourism" suits the article perfect. It gives you a dramatic start, when you read it, and gives you the impression that this is something the writer has thought true until the last detail. It is chronologically perfect; it starts with a short statement of the story, then a large discussion whether it is all right or not, and then a rather open but a bit persuasive ending. When reading this kind of article you feel informed, but you have to always keep in mind that the writher can manipulate you, because he has got the "power of the pen".

The article persuades you in three ways. It starts with the ethics about going to a country which is in war with another or itself. That is when Prof. Richard Sharpley mentions, that it's hard to determinate why they do it - "Whether it is to witness war through some sort of ... (p.1 lowest)". It is ethically wrong to calm your own blood thirst by the death of others, and also he is a professor in tourism, which tells us that he knows what he is talking about, by his knowledge and qualifications. He is in a higher stat of ethic than the normal reader. The next persuade factor in the article is "feelings". When Hadas Kroitoru interviews Margaret Whelpton(69 years old), she mentions that, "she could not have enjoyed her trip if she were not aware of the danger". This cries out for our feelings for the 69 years old lady, who easily could have been our neighbor or the old lady from the store. The third factor Sense gets used by another professor call John Lennon. He uses it when he points out that people already have forgotten that it is only about