{"id":14379,"date":"2019-12-03T18:06:53","date_gmt":"2019-12-03T18:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/?p=14379"},"modified":"2020-12-30T18:08:46","modified_gmt":"2020-12-30T18:08:46","slug":"william-valdez-how-i-became-obsessed-with-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/?p=14379","title":{"rendered":"William Valdez: How I became obsessed with disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"

William Valdez is not your typical travel junkie. Over the past decade, he had only been interested in visiting destinations that have been tormented by disasters.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI love travelling in general, but I\u2019ve always been fascinated by the places that have recovered or are undergoing a disaster. I know people must think I\u2019m absolutely nuts, but I like getting up close to the action. It gives me a different kind of feeling than going to places like Disney,\u201d said Valdez, the 25-year-old from Etobicoke.<\/p>\n

According to Kevin Smith, a tourism management professor at Humber College, this travel niche known as disaster tourism, is the act of visiting a site \u201cthat experienced some form of disaster.\u201d These disasters range from natural causes \u2014 such as earthquakes and hurricanes, to human caused tragedies, such as damages attributed by warfare.<\/p>\n

\"\"

A local sign criticizing tourists for visiting the ruins of the Lower Ninth Ward, a neighbourhood in New Orleans that was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.<\/p><\/div>\n

Smith said disaster tourism is not as uncommon as people perceive. \u201cIt is the rise of people looking for places to see that fulfills something more than relaxation.\u201d While these places are far from traditional vacation destinations, Smith also said that\u00a0people travel to these places to \u201cfollow their own personal interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

For vacationers like Valdez, disaster tourism has become a growing alternative market for personal excitement and exploration. He said his interest in becoming a disaster tourist began as a teenager, when specialized tours and memorials became available to the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a teenager, I took a bus tour with my cousins to see the disaster zones of Hurricane Katrina. It was really interesting; like you\u2019re in a set of a disaster movie and to see the things that are still standing is shocking, because these things are real. It goes beyond your expectations like nothing you\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d said Valdez.<\/p>\n

He further said that visiting disaster sites are not about \u201cglorifying the dead\u201d, but instead is about learning about the things that happened in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about fear or celebrating the dead or human evil; it\u2019s the story of evolution. If anything, these places teach me more about discipline and how precious life is. We live in an amazing time. That\u2019s why I drag my family and friends to visit these places,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n

He also credits specialty television programs and documentaries as a reason he\u2019s been obsessed with this travel niche.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in such a great time because there\u2019s coverage on these things now. It\u2019s even better that shows like Chernobyl (on HBO), or Dark Tourist (on Netflix) have brought attention to these places,\u201d said Valdez.<\/p>\n

Delonix Villegas, a WestJet travel consultant, said that the growing interest in disaster tourism is also influenced by the media\u2019s extended coverage of the sites.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe media is a huge factor. During the eruption of Kilauea in Hawaii last year, we got so many calls regarding flight packages surrounding the volcano. I didn\u2019t realize how big this thing was until I took in how huge this event was, and then it all sort of made sense. I answered about 10 calls a day just asking about that, and maybe a few emails as well,\u201d said Villegas.<\/p>\n

Villegas said that when a disaster occurs, news outlets don\u2019t take into account that these places are being marketed to curious tourists.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a disaster like a volcano or a human tragedy happens, there always seems to be so much media coverage on that area. What happens is that the area ends up getting promoted and that\u2019s where all the marketing comes from, without them realizing it,\u201d said Villegas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

William Valdez is not your typical travel junkie. Over the past decade, he had only been interested in visiting destinations that have been tormented by disasters. \u201cI love travelling in general, but I\u2019ve always been fascinated by the places that have recovered or are undergoing a disaster. I know people must think I\u2019m absolutely nuts, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97,"featured_media":14380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[655,569],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14379"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/97"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}