First read is on us.

Subscribe today to keep up with the latest travel industry news.

The Disneyfication of war tourism in Sri Lanka wrongly represents one region’s unpleasant reality


Skift Take

Too often war tourism mitigates the horrors of conflict rather than educate travelers on the reality of a location and its people’s history.

The tourists have travelled hundreds of kilometers to see this underground bunker, once home to the most feared man in Sri Lanka: the leader of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Velupillai Prabhakaran...

But while these guided tours offer locals a rare glance into the inner workings of the Tigers’ de facto state and the extent of its former military capacity, rights activists fear that many tourists are missing the “bigger picture” — the horrors of the aftermath of the war and the suffering that has become an everyday experience for tens of thousands who were displaced during the last bouts of fighting.

Up Next

Experiences

How Travel Brands Can Seize the ‘Q5’ Opportunity on TikTok

Driven by increased spending on experiences and the digital habits of younger audiences, TikTok has emerged as a key platform for inspiring and shaping travel decisions. Leveraging the platform’s reach early in the year presents a unique opportunity for travel brands to connect with eager travelers.
Sponsored