In November 2019, The Guardian published a headline reading,“Concerns over rise in dark tourism in Syria as war enters ninth year.” The piece argued that there’s been a rise of western tourists heading to Syria, and that they’ve been met with criticism from locals. Tourists headed to Saudi Arabia and to Afghanistan have been met with similar criticism.

After our chat with Andrew Drury about extreme travel last year, he encouraged us to reach out to James Willcox, co-founder of Untamed Borders - so we did.⁠ Untamed Borders is an adventure travel company that guides tourists into regions that are difficult to access, including Congo, Sudan, Afghanistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.

So what does it mean to travel to regions that aren’t easily accessible because of conflict, or geopolitics? Is this “dark tourism"?
Are there benefits to this kind of tourism?

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Guest:
James Willcox, co-founder of the adventure travel company Untamed Borders.
Visit https://untamedborders.com/ for more information on their tours and initiatives. @untamedborders on social media.

Resources:
Concern over rise in dark tourism in Syria as war enters ninth year
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/25/dark-tourism-syria-war


Saudi Arabia wants your next vacation


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/25/business/saudi-arabia-tourism.html 


Travel bloggers visiting Syria are normalizing the Assad regime


https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-travel-bloggers-visiting-syria-are-normalizing-the-assad-regime/ 



HOW TO TRAVEL TO SYRIA IN 2020: EVERYTHING YOU MUST KNOW

https://againstthecompass.com/en/travel-syria/ 





Alpaca My Bags is the podcast that is creating a platform for discussing travel through a critical lens. If you're a fan of the podcast, don't forget to subscribe, rate and review Alpaca My Bags! Follow us on social media @alpacamybagspod or join our Facebook Group: Alpaca YOUR Bags.


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Producer: Kattie Laur
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