Visiting death and life: Dark Tourism and Slave Castles

In dark tourism research there is a paucity of research given to the discussion of sites associated with African enslavement. This study is informed by combining qualitative data from interviews that were conducted with 14 individuals pre- and post-travel to Cape Coast Castle, Ghana, alongside elicited photographs from the site, and a narrative analysis on other visitations and reflections of coastal castles. In bringing the discussion of these sites into an overall conceptual discussion of dark tourism, careful consideration needs to be given to the nuances that is evident in the sites’ histories, the interactions and interpretations of tourists with those sites, and their management and oversight by the Ghanaian authorities and the UNESCO Slave Route Project.

► Members of the Black Diaspora provide a unique rationale in traveling to Slave Castles. ►Members of the Black Diaspora desire to reclaim an aspect of identity in traveling to one site. ► In describing the experience at one site, there is evidence of deep emotional place attachment. ► Reflection on observations and experiences at one site remain salient in post-trip interviews.