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When it's right to roam in hotspots

Simon Reeve

Is travelling to `troubled countries' such as Uzbekistan worthy or just plain voyeurism?

A DOCTOR moonlighting as a taxi driver in the ancient Uzbek city of Samarkand reassured me about the benefits of travelling to troubled parts of the globe. As we pottered around the back streets, `Ismail' recounted tales of torture committed by the police: horrific beatings and the quashing of political opposition. He saw a taxi ride with a tourist as a chance to share the reality of life in Uzbekistan. I found his stories upsetting. No doubt he has had a similar impact on other foreigners carried in his battered cab.

This chat, coupled with stories and jokes shared with other locals during a trip around Uzbekistan, encouraged me to care about the country in a way reading books about the place never could. But although we may return home from troubled countries such as Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe or Myanmar, or even from disaster zones such as Chernobyl, with empathy and enhanced knowledge, is it right for us to go to such destinations in the first place? Is so-called `dark tourism' worthy travel or basic voyeurism?

From an environmental perspective, the answer to the first question would have to be no. All our holidays and adventures, whether for hedonism or political enlightenment, are wreaking havoc on the planet. Let's be honest: we might claim we are trying to find an exotic tribal ceremony in Borneo or sub-Saharan Africa so we can understand how people really live, but there are few takers for sightseeing trips around the all-too-real slums of Lagos, Rio, or Paris.

Yet our voyeurism need not be entirely selfish. The key is how we travel. Tourism employs 214 million people worldwide, and Britons for instance spend at least £2 billion a year in developing countries, money that helps protect national parks and trickles down to the poor. Independent travel avoiding resorts, cruise ships and chain hotels can help ensure that a greater percentage of your money goes into local pockets.

Shunning places has consequences too: tourists are avoiding Zimbabwe for fear their money will tacitly endorse the Mugabe regime, but thousands in the country depend on the tourist industry for work. The social and political consequences of travelling in troubled regions remain a grey area. Perhaps the motto for us all should be simply: "Don't travel stupid." The days when we were happy to jet around without considering the environment or politics are surely over. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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