Travel to a post-war region: Motivations and experiences

This study examines the motivations and lived experiences of Sri Lankan migrants' who made visits to a post-war region: the Northern Province in Sri Lanka, for the first time, after the end of a three decade long ethnic conflict. Tourism in post-war regions is mostly framed as 'dark tourism' due to its association with death and suffering. However, semi-structured interviews with two ethnic groups: Sinhalese - the majority of the population in Sri Lanka and Tamils - the majority of the population in the North, revealed contrasting motivations and experiences. For the Sinhalese, access to the region enabled them to experience the war and its effects in real terms, hinting at some aspects of 'dark tourism', combined with other intentions such as religious pilgrimage and visiting other cultural sites and attractions. By contrast, for the Tamils, it was primarily visiting 'home and familiar places' after many years. Implications to the tourism development and planning are discussed.