Patrimony, engineered remembrance and ancestral vampires: appraising thanatouristic resources in Ireland and Sicily

Abstract

Much discussion has been devoted to defi ning thanatourism and examining its characteristic forms (battlefi eld tourism, holocaust tourism, ‘dark’ museums, murder and atrocity sites, etc). However, less attention has been focused on thanatourism as a destination image element, in the sense that certain places are partly or wholly branded and known for their association with particular touristic activities, interests and tastes (e.g. golfi ng locations, surfi ng and diving resorts, heritage cities, etc). This chapter explores what identity a dark tourism destination might be in perceptual terms through conceptualising it as a form of ‘patrimony’. It o ers a perspective on the historic resources that might constitute this patrimony, and an approach to inventorying them comparatively, using a simple diagnostic model. The approach is exemplifi ed in a comparison between Ireland and Sicily, which includes a revisionist perspective on one of Ireland’s best-known ‘dark’ resources: Dracula and its author, Bram Stoker.